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“One of the most devastating injuries for soccer players is an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) rupture,” explains , PhD. “Not only are these injuries extremely painful, but they require at least one year of rehabilitation, and there is a high risk that an athlete will develop osteoarthritis down the road. Also, a little more than half of athletes will get back to competitive sport after injury, and an even smaller percentage get back to their previous performance level.” 

Jordan’s mission is to better understand the impact of ACL injuries on athletes’ functional and performance qualities, so they can make better decisions about when they’re ready to get back to their sport.  

“We’re a bit like weather forecasters in that we’re collecting information from athletes every day. We can forecast an individual who is progressing really well, and we can identify the individuals who are regressing and not doing so well,” says Jordan, an associate professor in the  and director of the Muscle Strength & Power Research Program in the Integrative Neuromuscular Sport Performance Lab.  

Working closely with clinicians in the ��֦��Ƶ , Jordan and his team develop individualized strength and conditioning programs to help athletes return to sport after a major injury. The goal is to monitor athlete recovery in an objective way, identify early warning signs of regression, and tailor strength and conditioning interventions in real time. As a result of his unique approach, Jordan has consulted with various professional sports organizations, including the National Hockey League, National Football League, National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball, and recently . 

Taking a video-game approach to rehabilitation 

Jordan and his team at the Sport Medicine Centre use extended reality (XR) to simulate real-game environments for athletes, much like a Nintendo Wii video game console. The technology can capture biomechanical data during realistic movement patterns, exposing hidden deficits and allowing testing to happen under unpredictable, game-like conditions.  

“The ACL is not just a structural support; it’s a sensory organ that informs the brain about where and how the joint is positioned,” Jordan explains. “After injury, athletes might rely more on their other senses, like vision, to make up for lost balance and co-ordination in the knee. The XR technology provides a more rigorous assessment of an athlete’s rehabilitation status after ACL injury as it prevents them from over-relying on their vision for knee stabilization.”

For Jordan, his research is not just about getting an athlete back in the game.

“ACL injuries are a major health issue, not just a sports issue,” he says. “They affect long-term health, mobility and quality of life. My goal is to help athletes return more safely and perform at their best by reducing injury risk through better data, better testing, and better interventions to support lifelong participation in sport and physical activity.”

Don’t blink: the split-second moves behind ACL injuries 

As soccer fans take in the World Cup, some of the biggest injury risks might happen in moments so fast, and so routine, that you might miss them, says Jordan.

He highlights key moments when an ACL rupture might occur, including a stiff, locked-out leg, a foot planted on the heel with a twist, or a knee drifting outside the body during rotation.

And, while viewers may not be able to notice these subtle movements that can happen in the blink of an eye, they may be able to notice subtle changes in a player who may be returning from an ACL injury, such as favouring one side, uneven cuts or landings, or a more guarded, cautious style of play.

“These injuries can happen in the most ordinary plays — movements players have done thousands of times ... until one goes wrong.”