Basketball star Sara Blicavs opens up on the spinal fusion surgery which ended her Paris Olympic dreams

Sara Blicavs dreamed of representing the Opals at the Paris Games but injury ended those hopes. Here, she opens up about the brutal spinal fusion surgery which ended her Olympic bid and what it means for her playing future.

Opals and WNBL star Sara Blicavs has undergone serious spinal surgery.

Sara Blicavs knew her “crappy back” was on borrowed time.

The carrot of the Paris Olympics had kept driving the Australian forward to get out on court, but in the end, her body made the decision for her.

Blicavs had been doing everything she could to keep her Olympic dream alive, although the pain injections and anti-inflammatories could only mask the trouble for so long.

Ultimately, there was no hiding from multiple fractures and an almost non-existent disc, resulting in “bone on bone” in her vertebrae.

The 31-year-old was left with no choice but to put a line through her Paris push and undergo major spinal fusion and disc replacement surgery.

“After Christmas, my back wasn’t going so well,” Blicavs said.

“I have always had a crappy back, I guess, but I was getting it injected and I was on anti-inflammatories and I was pushing for the Olympics.

“I was hopeful (I would get there). I knew there was going to be a time limit on when it (my back) was going to give up, I just didn’t think it was going to be this early.

Opals and WNBL star Sara Blicavs has undergone serious spinal surgery.

“It was a bit disheartening because obviously Paris was a huge goal of mine and I was so excited about basketball, so that was really tough.

“But I just hit a point towards the end of the (WNBL) season where I just felt like I was deteriorating and I was getting worse and worse. Basically it (surgery) chose me, I didn’t have to choose it.

“I needed to get it done and how I am feeling now, it is by far the best decision that I have ever made.”

Given the extent of Blicavs’ back injury, it is remarkable she had been able to keep playing for the Melbourne Boomers in what would turn out to be the club’s final season in the WNBL.

It had been painful for Blicavs to sit, painful to go on walks, let alone pounding the paint.

Blicavs had been managing an ailing back since suffering a disc bulge three years ago.

By the time she went in for surgery, she carried four back fractures and had “basically no disc” between the L3 and L4 vertebrae.

An X-ray of Sara Blicavs' back after spinal surgery.

Some of the scars from Sara Blicavs spinal surgery.

“It was pretty much just bone on bone and my vertebrae were moving as well,” Blicavs said.

“To be honest, I am shocked with myself that I managed to play this long. But it turns out, as a few people have said to me, your brain is a powerful thing and I obviously chose to numb it out and not accept that I was injured and move on and so I managed to get this far.

“But, like I said, I just became so weak out on court and I couldn’t move properly and now since having it done I actually realised how much pain I was in.”

Blicavs is now more than two months post-spinal fusion surgery and faces a 12-month rehabilitation period, which will keep her out of next summer’s WNBL season.

But she is eyeing a return in 2025 – provided her recovery runs smoothly – and hoped the surgery could prolong her basketball career for another five years.

After surgery which took almost five hours to complete, Blicavs now boasts an impressive collection of titanium in her spine.

“They put two screws in my L3 vertebrae, two in my L4 and then connected them up with two bars and basically it fuses my spine so the L3 and L4 now do not move at all,” Blicavs said.

“They are completely stuck in place, they are rock solid and there is no movement in that vertebrae. I also got a titanium disc, which looks a bit like a USB stick stuck in between the vertebrae as well acting as a fake disc for me.

The 'USB stick'-like apparatus that has helped repair Sara Blicavs injured spine.

The new disc in Sara Blicavs spine.

“They had to go in through the right side of my abdomen to do the disc and then they had to flick me over onto my stomach and slice down my back three different areas and do their magic with the screws and bars that way.”

While Blicavs eventually had no choice but to go under the knife, it didn’t make the realisation that her Paris dream was over any easier to take.

Blicavs had been a member of the Opals team which claimed bronze at the 2022 FIBA World Cup in Sydney and she had also been part of the squad for the Paris Olympic qualifiers in Brazil in early February.

“It was hard, I was really upset. I felt like I was a bit of an emotional wreck for three weeks,” Blicavs said of coming to terms with missing Paris.

An X-ray of Sara Blicavs' back after spinal surgery. Picture: Supplied

“I had a lot of tearies …. but the way I was playing, moving and then trying to hold on and last while my vertebrae were moving it just wasn’t going to happen.

“There was no way that I could have even made that team, but there is no way that you can play at an Olympics when your body is at 30 per cent of what it is.

“When I realised that, I just thought now is the time to get it done because I still want to play after this and, if anything, I have to think of my career after this.

“I am hopeful to play for like five more years and the way that I am feeling now, I feel so free, I feel so light and I feel like, ‘Let’s go for the LA Olympics in four years’ time’.

“I know for a fact I am super happy for all the girls and the ones that get selected for the Opals, I love those girls to death and it’s a great team. But, gosh, I am jealous. I know that it is going to be the hardest time of my year, but I will just try and keep myself super distracted.”

Blicavs during a women's pre-Olympic tournament against Germany. Picture: Thiago Gomes/AFP

Blicavs’ injury woes came against the backdrop of uncertainty over the Boomers’ future in the WNBL, and ultimately the demise of the Melbourne franchise.

The Boomers’ ownership group this month confirmed it was transferring its WNBL licence to a Geelong-based consortium, which includes the Geelong United Basketball Association.

Blicavs had been one of the Boomers’ key signings ahead of the 2023-24 season, having crossed from Melbourne’s now sole team, the Southside Flyers.

Facing a 12-month recovery from her surgery, Blicavs has already ruled out suiting up for next summer’s WNBL season, but has given little thought to her future beyond that.

But the Geelong-based Blicavs said the new franchise would be a perfect fit for her given her roots in the regional centre.

“To be honest, I have not thought about it much,” Blicavs said.

“I will deal with all that stuff (eventually) because I know that this year I am not going to be playing anyway. I just need to take the time to make sure my back is properly healed because it’s major surgery.

Blicavs warming up for the Melbourne Boomers. Picture: Mark Nolan/Getty Images

“It’s sad for the WNBL to lose a Melbourne team because Melbourne is the sports city of Australia. I know there is the Southside Flyers, but not actually having that Melbourne WNBL team it is sad and we built such a huge support base and the fans there were amazing, so it is sad to lose the Boomers.

“Low-key, I am kind of happy because Geelong got the licence, I’m from Geelong and if that happens to be the team that I play for, it’s 15 minutes from my house.

“Geelong is my home, I love it down here and I played with the Supercats, the NBL1 team, for 10 years, so to me it is like my family, I feel comfortable.

“But I can’t even think about contracts right now. All I have to think about is making sure my back will heal because there is that slight chance that I may not be able to play basketball again. You just never know.”

Blicavs said she hoped to see more investment in the WNBL and the return one day of a central Melbourne-based team.

“I am just hoping that the WNBL will start doing something about the actual league and getting it bigger and better,” she said.

“Maybe we will see a Melbourne team again in the future.”

For now, Blicavs is focused on her own recovery.

The first six weeks post-surgery, Blicavs was only allowed to sit down or stand up/ walk for no more than 30 minutes at a time.

The next block of six weeks, that could stretch to 45 minutes, but she is not allowed to bend or twist for three months, which has proved a challenge at home for the “clumsy” hoopster.

“It’s hard because you don’t realise how much you actually drop stuff on the floor when bending gets taken away from you,” Blicavs said.

“I have realised that I drop everything, I am clumsy as. Maybe this is training me to be less clumsy, which is good.”