Olympic heroine Lee Lai-shan has been simulating high-intensity competition in a battery of tests to pinpoint the pains wracking her body.
'My doctors have had to trigger the pains to see how my body reacts under high-intensity exercise. It hurts but it has to be done. I want to stay alive longer!' said San San, who was forced to relinquish her title without a fight at this month's World Championships in Pattaya. The abdominal cramps first struck her at October's Pusan Asian Games.
San San said it was now believed the trouble was with her abdominal muscles or the surrounding nerves instead of her organs. The source of the pains was first diagnosed to be an inflamed bile-duct of her gall bladder after she rushed home from Pusan, where she successfully defended her Asian Games title.
'We have done a variety of tests, including blood tests and scans on all my abdominal organs, but we couldn't find a clue. It was further proved when I didn't feel the pains when my muscles were under the effect of an anaesthetic after a vigourous workout. I'd have felt the pains if my organs had problems,' she said.
'I was relieved when it became clear that my organs weren't the culprit. But we still need to find out what the problem is because I might not be able to continue competing if the pains persist.'
Describing her ailment as a rare case, the 1996 Atlanta Olympic champion said it would take at least a month for her doctors to track down the source. 'It has become obvious that the pains strike when my muscles are running at full gear and you can see there are not many athletes, past and present, who have undergone that high intensity of training and competition.
