Hoskin underwent surgery three weeks ago to remove a cervical rib in her shoulder that was pressing on a nerve and restricting an artery, causing her arm to go weak and numb.<\/p>\n
The symptoms of thoracic outlet syndrome first appeared just over a year ago, affecting her build-up to the world championships in Italy last August.<\/p>\n
Hoskin changed her training, breaking her hour-long sessions on the water into one-minute segments so she could still find her power over a 90-second race.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just couldn\u2019t do multiple races, one after the other,\u201d she says. \u201cOur team adapted our warm-up slightly so we could get my arm to the start line in a good place. Once that gun went off, I knew I had 90 seconds in me.\u201d<\/p>\n
But late last year, it reached a point where a frustrated Hoskin was unable to do any physical activity \u2013 including paddling. <\/p>\n
For months, she agonised over whether to have surgery, knowing it would be invasive, the recovery lengthy and success far from certain.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told my team, I\u2019m 100% sure I\u2019m going to get the surgery, but I\u2019m only 80% sure I want it. I knew it was the right thing for me, but I was still scared,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Now in the early stages of her recovery, the Aucklander is taking a philosophical view of her situation.<\/p>\n
Dame Lisa Carrington and Alicia Hoskin celebrate winning gold in the K2 500m final at the Paris Olympics, one of Hoskin’s two gold medals at the Games. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cThe timing could be bad \u2013 or it could be extremely good. I\u2019m just so grateful I could do the most training I\u2019ve ever done leading into the Paris Olympics, because dealing with this during that period would have been a nightmare,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes what I\u2019ve done [in paddling] and my medals feel even more special. I\u2019m grateful for what my body has allowed me to do over the last 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hoskin has a rare congenital condition, diagnosed when she was 9, where her ribs sit higher than normal. The troublemaker was a rib growing from a vertebra in her neck.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s no stranger to health challenges. In 2017, Hoskin was diagnosed with a rare heart condition that required ablation surgery, and last September she had an operation on her knee.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I knew this was a lot bigger than I\u2019d experienced before. And with such an uncertain outcome, I continued to have thoughts of, \u2018what if I can never paddle again? What if I don\u2019t see any improvement?\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cThe lifestyle I\u2019ve lived for the last 10 years has all been around performing at the highest level.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hoskin was 9 when her mother discovered an odd lump on her shoulder while giving her a massage after gymnastics.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe next day we went to the doctor \u2013 Mum\u2019s first thought was maybe it was some kind of tumour, because it was only on one side. We were pretty worried,\u201d Hoskin says. \u201cI was in hospital for a couple of days while they ran all these tests, then someone counted my vertebrae and realised there was a rib coming out where it\u2019s not supposed to. But of all things it could be, a cervical rib was a good outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hoskin\u2019s case was more unusual, though. \u201cMost people with a cervical rib can go through life without even knowing it\u2019s there,\u201d she says. \u201cBut mine is structured so that my whole set of ribs are attached to vertebrae higher than they should be.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen my cervical rib was actually fused to my first rib. Then add 10 years of training, and it becomes quite a rare situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doctors told 9-year-old Hoskin she shouldn\u2019t have problems with the condition unless she built muscle around the cervical rib. \u201cSo I built a career around building up those muscles,\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t until a year ago she started to have \u201cmini flare-ups\u201d that would last days. \u201cI\u2019d get really tight muscles around my shoulder and a really fatigued arm,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Her doctor and physio got her to do tests, including raising her arm and moving her hand for as long as she could.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be up there about 10 seconds before the whole thing went dead,\u201d Hoskin says. \u201cIt was pretty clear I had thoracic outlet syndrome, but at that point, there was a lot of hope because there are many options to manage it. And my paddling technique was contributing to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
So Hoskin made changes to her style, trained differently and worked closely with High Performance Sport New Zealand physio Jane Knobloch. \u201cI had to get creative. I even got Botox in my neck muscle that feeds that space,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Dame Lisa Carrington and Alicia Hoskin with the second Olympic gold medals they won together in 2024. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n
Hoskin\u2019s fiance Elliot Snedden bought a massage table and set it up in their lounge, learning to massage her shoulder every night after sprint training.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said, \u2018As long as you\u2019re trying to make this work, I\u2019ll keep helping\u2019,\u201d she says of Snedden, a data analyst for HPSNZ. \u201cI was also sleeping in a splint to keep my arms straight.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it wasn\u2019t until we hit a dead end on every single option that I actually started to get scared.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the world championships in Milan, where she raced in the K4 boat, she relied on her team and then coach, Gordon Walker, to make changes so she could still compete at her best.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a testament to who we are as a team \u2013 we know what it takes to win and there are multiple ways to achieve that. This was almost a tool for my coach and me to find new ways to train and compete,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
The team of Carrington, Hoskin, Tara Vaughan and Lucy Matehaere finished fourth at the world champs (Carrington was a late call-in after Olivia Brett had to return home with an arm injury).<\/p>\n
But when she returned home, Hoskin realised she couldn\u2019t sustain that effort if she wanted to continue performing at the highest level and defend her Olympic titles in 2028. She decided to give it one last push.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a meeting with my partner, the coaches, physios and doctor, and brainstormed how I could get to LA. We put everything on the table,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had to treat it like we were investigators working together on a research project, because there was no other case out there of an athlete experiencing what I was. We spent three or four weeks trying different things until we realised unless the anatomical structure changed, the rib would continue to press on the nerve and close my artery.<\/p>\n
\u201cI completely stopped training for two months to see if I could get the symptoms to zero, but it continued to get worse.\u201d<\/p>\n
So Hoskin saw a surgeon and decided to have the rib removed. \u201cHe said the surgery needed to be my last resort, and I had to make that decision myself because it might not work,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I took my time because it wasn\u2019t just about me. I\u2019m part of a team, a family member, and it became more than just about paddling.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was extremely clear that for my future family, I wanted to be able to run around at the playground, swing on monkey bars, carry a backpack on my shoulder, and lift my babies. I had to envisage the life that I wanted to live. And that helped me make my decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hoskin worked with a HPSNZ sports psychologist to prepare for the two-hour surgery to remove the rib, the attached muscles and scar tissue. \u201cThe surgeon was really happy with it, so all in all it was good,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s now feeling \u201ca bit more like myself\u201d as she manages the pain. It will take about six months to move her arm normally again, and up to nine months before she can fully train at the level she was at before her problems began.<\/p>\n
Hoskin is grateful for the ongoing support she\u2019s had from HPSNZ.<\/p>\n
New Zealand’s Alicia Hoskin, Tara Vaughan, Dame Lisa Carrington and Olivia Brett after winning gold in the women\u2019s four final at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Photo \/ Iain McGregor \/ www.photosport.nz<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I met with them early on, they said, \u2018You\u2019re a person before a paddler, and there\u2019s so much you\u2019ve given us, and will continue to give us, we want to make sure you have everything you need\u2019,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s been really cool to have females in that support team, who make me feel understood through it all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unable to do any demanding physical activity, she\u2019s become \u201ccreative\u201d \u2013 finding projects she can do one-handed. \u201cI\u2019ve just had to stay super-disciplined and focus on things I\u2019m loving outside of paddling and training,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Some of those projects revolve around her future wedding \u2013 she\u2019s started growing flowers, sewing and making name tags for potential wedding guests.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve done watercolour painting, made kombucha and grown a vege garden \u2013 I\u2019m not normally in New Zealand long enough to grow a cucumber,\u201d she laughs. Carrington has made regular visits with her dog, Colin.<\/p>\n
Hoskin has also taken on some extra university papers, after graduating with a Bachelor of Sport and Exercise.<\/p>\n
Even if she can\u2019t compete in elite sport again, Hoskin is determined to be in Los Angeles. \u201cWhether it\u2019s in the boat, in a coach boat, or in the grandstand, I\u2019m going to be there supporting the team. It\u2019s still my priority for the next three years.\u201d<\/p>\n