Coeur d'Alene student overcomes injury, illness to run international event

An incoming Coeur d'Alene High School senior had to get over being severely under the weather as she participated in a track meet Down Under only seven months after her second knee surgery.

"I ended up getting sick two days before the track meet with a gastrointestinal stomach bug that was going throughout the team," Maricela "Mari" Nelson, 17, said Tuesday.

The young athlete was in Brisbane, Australia, to compete in the Coast 2 Coast International Athletics three-day track meet at the Gold Coast Performance Center when she was hospitalized.

"I was extremely sick. I couldn't walk. I was wheeled out in a wheelchair," she said. "I was lightheaded. I threw up about nine times in a span of three or four hours."

Mari was treated at Tweed Valley Hospital in New South Wales.

"I got an IV put in me, that helped me so much," she said. "I don’t know what I would have done without the hospital."

Despite the abrupt illness, Mari placed sixth in the 60-meter finals, third in the 4x100-meter relay and ninth in the 100-meter finals.

"The headwind was not helpful," said Mari, who spoke to The Press from Honolulu, the last stop on the Coast 2 Coast trip itinerary. "For the 4x100 relay I got third. We ended up getting a medal, so I was pretty happy with that."

Mari has been active with track for nine years. She has undergone two knee surgeries in that time.

In summer 2020 she tore her ACL, requiring a procedure and recovery before she competed a second time in the USA Track and Field National Junior Olympic Track and Field Championships. 

In January of this year, she underwent another surgery to repair a torn lateral meniscus and to remove a piece of plastic from the previous operation.

"It’s been tough," Mari said. "Two knee surgeries is not easy to come back from. I'm going to keep working hard."

She received the invitation to the Coast 2 Coast International Track Meet a week after her most recent surgery.

"I genuinely think it was a sign from God to say, 'Here's another incredible opportunity,'" Mari said.

She said she is incredibly grateful to her coaches, sponsors, friends, family and even those against whom she competed for helping her along. 

She said her mom, Debora Nelson, has been her cheerleader the entire way.

"I wouldn't be on this trip without her," Mari said.

“It’s been an emotional roller coaster journey," her mom said. "She's been at the highest of highs and the lowest of lows."

Coast 2 Coast participants will be in Honolulu through Thursday, enjoying some free time after their hard work abroad.

"Thank you to everyone who got me here," Mari said. "Thank you to everybody who's been supporting me because I couldn’t have done it the past nine years without everyone."

    Incoming Coeur d'Alene High senior Mari Nelson gives a thumbs up from a hospital in New South Wales, Australia as she is treated for a stomach illness July 10, two days before she competed in an international track meet. She still managed to place sixth overall in the 60-meter race, ninth in the 100-meter race and third in the relay.
  

    Mari Nelson and her mom, Deb Nelson, smile for the camera Sunday during the banquet following the Coast 2 Coast International Athletics three-day track meet in Australia. Mari fared well despite past knee surgeries and an abrupt illness ahead of the competition.