What amateur athletes recovering from COVID-19 need to know about return to sport

Amateur athletes returning to activity after recovering from COVID-19 should take a gradual approach, says an Edmonton sports medicine physician. 

When it comes to sports and COVID-19, much of the research and attention has been on elite athletes.

Team Canada soccer star Alphonso Davies, who is from Edmonton, is currently dealing with a mild case of myocarditis. 

The signs of inflammation in his heart muscle were detected during testing his German club team, Bayern Munich, did on all players who were returning from bouts with COVID-19. 

Two Edmonton Oilers were also sidelined this season by myocarditis. According to recent media reports, goalie Alex Stalock was recently cleared to play, while forward Josh Archibald remains on the long-term injury list but is showing some improvement. 

But most people who like to get out for a bike ride or play recreational basketball don't have easy access to sports medicine experts, and they aren't going through a return-to-play screening process like what's in place for many pros.

Edmonton runner Dania Spillett got into running seriously in 2014. Her focus is marathons and half-marathons, and she ran her first 50-kilometre ultra-marathon last summer. 

While Spillett knows there's always a risk of serious outcomes if she were to be infected with COVID-19, she feels it's more likely that she'll be OK as she's had three doses of vaccine.

"If you have inflammation of the heart, that's not a thing that you can feel or sense on a day-to-day basis," Spillett said. "Even if I handled it just fine and then decided to run again once I felt good enough, then am I doing more damage to myself when I don't actually realize it?"

When Spillett reads stories about elite athletes dealing with ongoing