Back problems back again for Tony Benshoof, and the USA Luge veteran is facing more treatment

Luger Tony Benshoof’s back woes are back again

Tony Benshoof’s back problem is back, already causing concern for the Olympic season.

The USA Luge veteran, who was fourth in the 2006 Turin Olympics, will receive an epidural cortisone injection Monday in Calgary, Alberta, to treat a recurrence of a herniated disk in his back — the same problem he had surgery on 11 months ago.

Tests performed this weekend confirmed what Benshoof himself suspected, that the same disk that caused him pain before is pushing against a nerve root again. The problem began flaring up considerably on Wednesday.

“Basically, it’s a small version of the problem I had a year ago,” Benshoof said.

He was sixth in the World Cup opener at Calgary on Saturday, even with the back pain, and said he’s “hopeful” of racing when the international series continues in Igls, Austria, this coming weekend.

Benshoof finished the two-run competition in Calgary 0.423 seconds behind Armin Zoeggler of Italy, and about one-third of a second away from a bronze medal.

“Hopefully, that in combination with the anti-inflammatory medication I’m taking will get me through the next few races,” Benshoof said late Saturday. “It’s kind of a step-by-step process. I have to be really smart about it and really ease back on movements that cause pain.”

The problem is, that includes sliding.

Benshoof said before the Calgary opening race that the back pain could have come from any number of factors, including intense weight training, air travel and bumpy training runs on the 2010 Olympic track in Whistler, British Columbia.

What really exacerbated the issue, though, might have been something that seems so simple — picking his sled up while exiting the track.

“It was the last training run before the Nation’s Cup,” Benshoof said, referring to a competition held Thursday. “I just reached over like I’ve done a million times to pick up my sled and I just felt a really sharp, really excruciating pain right in my lower back region. It was very acute, very localized. I didn’t feel anything down my leg, but it was debilitating. It brought me right to my knees.”

He said he knew right away what the MRI exam would reveal.

The 34-year-old Benshoof has battled back issues for years. This season is his 21st in the USA Luge program, and if he makes the team — as still expected — for the Vancouver Games, it would be Benshoof’s third time racing in the Olympics.