PARIS — Three-time US Olympian Emma Coburn says her “dream of the Paris Olympics is over” after breaking her ankle at the Diamond League meet in Shanghai and undergoing surgery.
Coburn, who won a bronze medal in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, will now miss the US track trials for the Paris Olympics.
“The dream of Paris is over,” the 33-year-old Coburn wrote on her Instagram account according to AP.
Coburn had thought she only sprained her right ankle on a water jump during the 3,000-meter steeplechase, but scans later revealed significant damage.
“When I got home, images showed torn ligaments, damaged cartilage, and a fracture in my medial malleolus,” she wrote.
During surgery, a screw was implanted for the fracture.
“If all goes well, I can start jogging again in 6 weeks. That means I’m out for the Olympic Trials,” wrote Coburn, who also competed at the 2012 London Games and the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Coburn was also the 2017 world champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Her post included video snippets of her exercising post-surgery with her ankle in a cast.
Coburn is not the only Olympian to have season-ending surgery. Alicia Monson, a 2021 Olympian in the 10,000 meters, announced an injury in April.
Out on a run, she felt what she described as a “crack” in her knee. It turned out to be a medial meniscus tear.
The surgery requires a long recovery, Monson wrote on Instagram, and she, too, will miss the Olympic Trials.
She set the American records in the 5,000 meters (14:19.45) and 10,000 meters (30:03.82) in 2023.
Monson’s coach, Dathan Ritzenhein, wrote in a message to Runner’s World that Monson is facing a six-month recovery.
She “could have looked at quicker fixes, but it would have led to significant problems down the road for her, so we committed to the long-term full recovery.”
He added, “It can be a brutal sport sometimes.”
British long jumper Jazmin Sawyers will miss this summer’s Paris Olympics because of a ruptured Achilles.
The 29-year-old confirmed on Instagram recently that she had undergone a successful operation on her take-off leg.
Sawyers won her first major long jump title at the European Indoor Championships in 2023. “It’s bad, but I am looking ahead to rehab, recovery and the future,” Sawyers said.
The United States Artistic Swimming Team, elsewhere, is making its final push in training as the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics fast-approaches.
Artistic swimming, formerly known as synchronized swimming, requires athletes to tap into their best abilities in acrobatics and artistry while maintaining precision with their team members.
As the US Artistic Swimming Team qualified for its first Olympic opportunity since 2008, team members say they spend 8 to 10 hours a day in the water while training, often without a weekend break. ”This is our full time job,” American synchronized swimmer Kenny Gaudet said.
“We relocated from all over the country in order to pursue this dream of being able to get this chance to be on the best team in the world.”
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