288: The elite athlete getting back on track with collagen peptides

<div>When elite triathlete <a href="https://www.justus-nieschlag.de/">Justus Nieschlag</a> suffered a partial rupture of his Achilles tendon, it couldn't have come at a worse time.<br> <br> </div> <div>The Tokyo Olympics in 2021, delayed by a year because of the Coronavirus pandemic, were just around the corner and the then 29-year-old was in pain.<br> <br> </div> <div>"Knowing I couldn't perform as I would like and I couldn't train and race 100 per cent meant it was a really tough time for me," he tells Stefan Gates in this episode of the Food Matters Live Podcast, made in partnership with <a href="https://www.gelita.com/en">GELITA</a>.<br> <br> </div> <div>"You prepare for four years then it's like this. It was super hard and it was not a good time for me."<br> <br> </div> <div>Justus did compete at the Games, representing Germany in the Triathlon. Despite carrying the Achilles injury, he helped the team to an impressive sixth-placed finish in the team relay.<br> <br> </div> <div>But after the Games came the prospect of a long period of rehabilitation. <br> <br> </div> <div> <strong>Profile: Justus Nieschlag<br> </strong><br> </div> <ul> <li> <strong>Age: </strong>30</li> <li> <strong>Nationality: </strong>German</li> <li> <strong>Discipline: </strong>Triathlon</li> <li> <strong>Honours: </strong><ul> <li>Germany’s middle-distance IRONMAN 70.3 Kraichgau record holder</li> <li>Five Arena Games podium finishes</li> <li>Represented Germany at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games, Tokyo</li> </ul> </li> </ul> <div>Justus was told he had to stop running for three months. For context, he would usually have a two-week break at the end of the season, before returning to the track. The prospect of a complete break from running for at least 12 weeks was not a welcome one.<br> <br> </div> <div>Up until he suffered the partial rupture of his Achilles tendon, Justus admits that nutrition was "never a big part" of his thinking. That changed when his management team recommended he start working with GELITA and, in particula