This morning Roman Khrennikov shared that he has scheduled surgery for a hip injury he sustained while training for the CrossFit Games this past season. Khrennikov, who was speculated to have an injury during the Games, confirmed this rumor last week after he withdrew from the Rogue Invitational and Dubai Fitness Championship.
The injury, however, appears to have been more serious than even Khrennikov thought. After some rest following the Games, Khrennikov was still experiencing pain and decided to get an MRI. The results came back clean.
That’s when he started ramping up his training for his off-season competitions. The pain persisted and Khrennikov got a second opinion and this time was diagnosed with an anterosuperior acetabular labrum tear and cam morphology of his left femur.
Surgery has been scheduled and Khrennikov assured his fans that he would be back and ready for the 2025 CrossFit Games season.
What is anterosuperior acetabular labrum tear?
In simple terms, it is a tear in the cartilage and tissue of the hip socket. Pain is felt in the front of the hip or groin. Those with a tear will experience pain in their groin, hear a clicking sound when they move, or have trouble walking. It can also limit athletes to squat below parallel and makes running difficult.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, hip labral tears cannot heal on their own and surgery is the only way to repair the injury. Some people can live with a labral tear, but that is unlikely for athletes who need full range of motion.Â
Surgery to repair a labral tear is generally arthroscopic surgery. While minimally invasive, most patients require four to six months to recover from the surgery. IF the 2025 CrossFit Games season is the same as this year, we are currently just over four and a half months out from the start of the CrossFit Open.
And what is cam morphology?
Khrennikov also said he has cam morphology of his left femur. This means he has cartilage or a bony bump around on the femur where it connects to the hip bone. Apparently this condition occurs in many athletes on both hips, although many do not experience any pain or symptoms.
Just like a hip labral tear, minimally invasive arthroscopic surgery can reshape the head and neck of the femur and remove the protuberance.
Recovery time appears to be the same, too. Most say it takes 4-6 months to fully recover. However, within a month a patient can begin partial weight-bearing activities on the affected hip.
So it looks like Khrennikov will have a lot of rehab this winter in order to get back and ready for the 2025 season. As we have seen with other Games athletes, notably Ricky Garard’s return from a shoulder injury two years ago, the standard recovery times don’t always hold true. Let’s hope Khrennikov’s recovery is on the shorter end and he is back on the competition floor sooner than later.
