NCAA Sports has a feature on Arkansas star Michelle Stout:
… Following a fourth-place finish in the all-around at NCAA Championships in 2009, Stout was ready to finish her stellar career with a flourish and make her senior season one to remember. The season was memorable alright, but not for the reasons Stout thought it would be. Instead, she suffered a season-ending Achilles’ tendon tear during the 2010 preseason and spent the year recovering.
“It was definitely pretty devastating at first,” Stout said. “I didn’t know if I was going to be able to come back. …
read the rest – Arkansas senior returns to provide lift
The story makes reference to the recent Achilles tears by Georgia’s Kaylan Earls and UCLA’s Vanessa Zamarripa.
It’s very common in older powerful gymnasts.
I’m not sure there’s any way we’re going to reduce the number of Achilles injuries, short of competing only on TumblTrak.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 