Slovakian athlete Tamara Potocka collapsed after completing a swim at the Olympic Games this morning, leaving spectators at the Paris Aquatics Centre shocked as she was hurriedly carried away on a stretcher.
The 21-year-old competed in a heat of the women’s 200-meter individual medley at 10:30am BST this morning and clambered out of the pool having come in seventh, missing out on qualification for the later rounds.
She was seen sitting poolside for a few seconds in clear distress, even as another eight swimmers lined up for the next heat, before slumping backwards.
Organisers realised something was wrong and postponed the next swim as medical staff descended on the scene.
Medics quickly placed an oxygen mask over the face of the young Slovak, who was lying motionless, before carefully loading her onto a stretcher and rushing her out of the La Defense arena as her British rival Abbie Wood watched on in horror.
It comes as two other competitors suffered what appeared to be serious injuries in Paris’ Stade de France today as the athletics got underway in the French capital.
For a few moments following Potocka’s swim, nobody realised the Slovak athlete was experiencing some difficulty.
The live broadcast showed how eight new competitors had taken to the starting blocks and were stripping off, seemingly seconds away from leaping into the water as commentators began previewing the next heat.
But the camera then pulled back to reveal how Potocka, wearing a blue skinsuit, had not left the venue and was sitting mere feet from the poolside, clearly experiencing considerable fatigue.
She was still there as the swimmers for the next heat took their marks, and seconds later she slumped backwards and was seen lying prone on the tiles.
Commentators clocked that something wasn’t right as the next heat was delayed and medical staff rushed poolside.
‘This doesn’t look good… 15,000 people are now watching an athlete surrounded by medical staff and I can assure you it’s absolutely silent in here,’ one broadcaster said as they witnessed medical staff crowding around the swimmer.
‘They’ve got a stretcher out, they’ve got an oxygen mask on the athlete, and I’m going to say… this looks very serious,’ he said.
‘They’ve got the neck brace around so I can only imagine that someone has hit their head and has some kind of trauma – they want to immobilise the athlete.
‘We hope that there’s nothing more than that…’
After a tense 30 minutes, the venue’s media manager confirmed Potocka was conscious and under medical assessment, but gave no further update on her condition.
Potocka finished seventh in her heat in a time of 2 minutes, 14.20 seconds.
The time was not fast enough to advance her to the semifinals of the event and she was eliminated from the competition.
Her British rival Abbie Wood finished fourth in a time of 2:10.95, just behind ‘s Ella Ramsay in third with a time of 2:10.75.
Potocka’s shocking collapse came minutes after South Sudanese athlete Lucia Moris was also carried off the track at the Stade de France having suffered what looked like a serious leg injury during the preliminary round of the women’s 100-metre sprint.
Moris appeared to sustain an explosive tear mid-way through the race, with the 23-year-old stumbling and falling to the ground in agony about 30 metres shy of the finish line.
She had started the race brightly on the inside lane but clearly suffered intense pain after one particular step which caused her to pull up and fall over.
Medical staff rushed on to the track to assist her after the race concluded.
The South Sudanese athlete was left writhing on the floor in pain, clutching her leg.
She remained on the floor several minutes after the race before she was stretchered off the track by medics.
Congo’s Natacha Ngoye went on to win the heat with a time of 11.34 seconds, but several of Moris’ fellow competitors were quick to check on her condition.
Many fans also expressed their sympathies towards Moris after the heartbreaking moment, given she looked to be flying high in second place following a positive start.
One said: ‘Prayers up for Lucia Moris hope she’ll be okay,’ before another added: ‘Never want to see that.’
Meanwhile, Lithuanian athlete Airine Palsyte appeared to suffer a significant knee injury while attempting to qualify for the women’s high jump.
Palsyte screamed in pain as she took off, with heavy strapping on her knee suggesting she was already nursing a pre-existing injury.
Upsetting images showed how she sat on the turf, clutching her leg and crying inconsolably as her fellow athletes rushed to her side.
She was also subsequently stretchered away, with her Olympic campaign cruelly cut short.