Verity Ockenden: "Don't call it a comeback"

Athlete and writer Verity Ockenden explores why elite athletes resist labeling their return to sport as a 'comeback,' arguing the term carries negative connotations implying they lost their identity during absence. She references Jakob Ingebrigtsen's return at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham after 11 months out through injury as a prime example of an athlete who avoided the word despite a high-profile return. Ockenden contends that how we label an athlete's return can have a significant psychological impact and that the choice of language should be left to the athletes themselves.