Serious training accident for Japanese gymnast Hitomi Hatakeda, who suffered a spinal injury after falling at the asymmetrical bars, while preparing for the final at the World Gymnastics Championships, taking place in Kitakyushu (Japan).
According to the Japanese federation, in the impact with the ground, the 21-year-old Hatakeda suffered damage to the central spinal cord and fractures to the cervical vertebrae, but new investigations and examinations will be carried out tomorrow.
The athlete, who also participated in the Tokyo Olympics, was preparing for tomorrow's all-around final, to which she had qualified with fourth place overall.
While she was in the middle of the exercise, in a transition from the low to the top bar, she fell and slammed her chin to the floor.
Immediately rescued, she was taken to hospital by ambulance on a backboard, painful but conscious.
With her was her mother, a former gymnast and her trainer. His father, Yoshiaki Hatakeda is also a former gymnast who won bronze in the team competition at the 1992 Olympics.
(Unioneonline / F)
