KEY POINTS:
A kneecapped Katherine Prumm taking the world women's motocross championship lead was as amazing a feat as Tiger Woods clinching his third US Open golf title, former world 500cc motocross champion Shayne King says.
Both achieved their feats while overcoming the pain of knee injuries, perhaps the more severe in Prumm's case.
Woods, not fully recovered from arthroscopic surgery to his left knee, had to contend with walking some 7km on each of five days before beating fellow American Rocco Mediate in sudden-death playoff at the 91st hole of the Torrey Pines course near San Diego this morning (NZT).
New Zealander Prumm, 19, has ridden with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee since early May after a training crash.
On Sunday, she battled to second overall at the French grand prix, third round of the championship at St Jean d'Angely, to take a two-point lead over French arch-rival Livia Lancelot.
And while Woods plans a long break after clinching his 14th major title, Prumm has opted to put off surgery on her knee until after the final round on September 7 at Lierop in the Netherlands.
The fourth round is in two weeks at Teutschental in Germany (June 29).
"Each sportsperson has their own unique way of adapting to pain and obviously when you are at the pinnacle of any sport, you have to have a very strong mind to overcome that threshold (of pain)," King said today.
"Obviously, Tiger Woods doing what he did this morning was incredible.
"Katherine doing what she has done is also incredible especially on a motorcycle - she has to manhandle 100 kilograms (twice in a day for about 30 minutes each time) in one of the most physically demanding sports of all."
King, the 1996 world champion, has himself ridden and won a race while nursing a broken tailbone, and while carrying various injuries, so is well-placed to put Prumm's and Wood's feats in context.
" It is incredible to see athletes at the pinnacle of their sport and the pain they have to go through to get what they want to achieve," he said.
He said it was all in the mind.
"You are in pain until the starting gate drops - once it drops, the pain doesn't go away but it becomes a secondary thing to what you thinking off.
"You are going down the start straight at a great knots of speed, mixed in with 39 other riders and you are on an obstacle track."
Prumm would really be hurting on landing from jumps.
"You have to have your mind in a zone - it's not until halfway through a race that you start to feel things are not normal - with the knee injury, Katherine's probably in a lot of pain but her mind takes over, the adrenaline comes through."
Prumm said in an email to King today that she was working constantly on strengthening the muscles around the injured knee and wore high-tech braces on both knees while racing.
"She said she remains confident of bring home a third world title and I hope she does it because it'll be the most memorable for her."
Prumm leads the world championship standings on 122 points, with Lancelot second on 120.
Third is American Ashley Fiolek on 102 with Germans Maria Franke (101) and Stephanie Laier (100) rounding out the top five.
- NZPA
