After every age group competition I check on injury trends. Talking to the medical staff on site is usually the best way to get a feel for what happened.
What about the World Championships?
Some called it a “Splatfest” … I think that’s a bit too harsh.
The first thing you need tell a non-gymnast about Artistic Gymnastics is that it’s difficult. Second, that it’s dangerous.
We saw a lot of falls like this …
Yang Yilin of China tumbles as she dismount from the uneven bars during the World Gymnastics Championships women’s all-around final at the O2 Arena in London, Friday, Oct. 16, 2009
(AP Photo/Matt Dunham) – ESPN
Most gymnasts pick themselves up. And go on. They are tough as any athlete anywhere.
Reuters published an article on the dangers:
The risks faced by young gymnasts in the chase for medals were again highlighted on Sunday when Jessica Gil Ortiz‘s bid to win the floor exercise title ended painfully with a suspected neck injury.
The 19-year-old Colombian was attempting to finish off a high-flying tumbling sequence with a double front somersault when she banged her head at an uncomfortable angle, hushing almost 12,000 fans at the O2 Arena into silence. …
Reports are that the injury turned out to be not serious. (Jessica trains at Universal Gymnastics in Miami.)
Other athletes injured in London include Fabian Hambuechen (GER) and Shona Morgan (AUS). Leave a comment if you know of others who withdrew from competition.
Shona had a dislocated kneecap. No ligament damage. That’s good news too.
8 comments ↓
The Ortiz stack made it onto our 6pm and 10.30pm news here – must’ve been a slow news day. So that’s two mentions of Worlds in NZ media in a week – unheard of outside of the Olympics.
So much for GymsportsNZ plans to increase media coverage of NZ gymnasics, as nothing was in national media about Nationals. Shame, cos the event looks really good at Mystery Creek.
I was there, and everyone in the arena was worried when we saw that fall, but only a few hours later, Ortiz turned up at the event farewell party, looking great, and got a big cheer.
Also, that article mentions the podium, was 1.5m high – it was actually 0.9m (& 20cm mats), but yes, there were a few gymnasts who fell off the podium.
Ana María Izurieta from Spain didn’t participate in the AA (she had qualified in the 11th place) because of a deltoid muscle contracture, or so they say.
She fell because she isn’t talented enough to be trying those tricks. The code is killing the sport and now trying to take the gymnasts with them
I watched the youtube video of Jessica Gil Ortiz and she IS talented enough to do the pass. Her foot slipped on take-off. It was her second pass and she mounted with a huge double layout(although horrible form)!!! It was a fluke accident. You can watch for yourself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL2dBkL_jn8
Nalla, she is definitely talented enough to be doing that. In fact, I think she was probably the most powerful tumbler out of all of the athletes in finals. It was a fluke accident and thank god it was her. she and bross are built like they could be on the college wrestling team if gymnastics doesn’t work out. She’s a tough kid, and a talented one, and enough about the injuries already. The splat from Yang Yilin was uncharacteristic too. In this photo it looks a lot worse then it did in competition. She pulled one twist around and one flip and then as she was landing the second flip she just lost the rotation and came straight down on her hands and knees — but it was not a bad fall in terms of potential life threatening injury.
There was a South Korean girl who appeared to blow out her knee on vault during podium training. Don’t know her name and never heard the outcome….
i think that jessica was just really unlucky, like it said – its only her second ever world championshipd and shes 19. Most normal 19 yeah olds would be at collage. also if she wasnt talented enough she wouldnt have qualified for the floor final.
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