AIS rehabilitation puts LA 2028 campaign back on track for sailor Laura Harding

From a moon boot and crutches to Victorian Female Sailor of the Year, Laura Harding's six weeks at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) have her back training and preparing to return to competition. 

The 49er FX sailor suffered a broken fibula and serious ankle ligament injury while competing at the World Championships in May and has since spent six weeks living at the AIS campus as part of the Intensive Rehabilitation (IR) program.  

The program provides a one-stop-shop rehabilitation environment for high performance athletes recovering from complex injuries, offering accommodation, training, treatment and recovery facilities together in one place. 

Athletes work with a multidisciplinary team spanning sports medicine, physiotherapy, strength and conditioning, psychology, nutrition, biomechanics and physiology, who collaborate with their performance teams to deliver a tailored program that supports their return to competition. 

“The team helped me transition out of the moon boot and eventually got me walking with no crutches which was nice,” Harding said. 

“I’ve just been slowly building back strength over the last two months to hopefully get back to where I want to be. It’s the most efficient environment you can think of and it’s been awesome.”  

Unable to get on the water, Harding and her coach used the AIS's new $4.9 million Environmental Chamber, the largest of its kind in Australia, to recreate race conditions through simulated heat and continue developing communication with sailing partner Annie Wilmot. 

“We had a couple of sessions in the Environmental Chamber using heat to simulate a bit of stress and racing conditions to get back into the swing of things and get our communication rolling again,” Harding explained.  

Recently named Victorian Female Sailor of the Year in recognition of her achievements and resilience this season, Harding is now focused on returning to full training and international competition with her sights set on the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. 

“We have some competitions coming up in November, so we’ll see how we go getting race-ready for those, but the longer-term goal is to return to Europe and compete at the Olympic test event in the middle of next year,” Harding said. 

Learn more about the AIS Intensive Rehabilitation program: Intensive Rehabilitation | ASC