Australia’s Olympic team has been robbed of its one of its most prominent athletes after top gymnast Georgia Godwin suffered an Achilles injury in training, ruling her out of the Paris Games.
The loss of the 2022 Commonwealth Games all around gold medal winner is a disastrous development for the gymnastics team, which was compounded by an injury to Australia’s top-ranked men’s trampolinist Blake Rutherford.
Days out from this week’s national championships on the Gold Coast, a teary Godwin told her followers on Instagram the injury was “not ideal”.
“This is definitely not the news I want to be sharing with you right now,” she said. “A couple of days out from nationals, less than 80 days from Paris, I’ve sustained an Achilles injury. It’s extremely heartbreaking.”
Gymnastics Australia issued a statement describing Godwin’s injury as a “cruel blow”, and pledged to provide support, saying the organisation was devastated for Godwin and Rutherford.
“The entire gymnastics community in Australia wishes them both well in their recovery,” the statement read.
Godwin is one of the older members of the Australian team, and she said in her video she would speaking to a surgeon in Brisbane in coming days.
“We’ll just see where we go from there. I’m not entirely sure what the recovery process looks like going forward, but I’ve got an amazing team around me and trying to be as positive as possible.”
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Godwin had helped the Australia’s women’s team qualify for the Olympics for the first time since 2012 with a strong performance at the World Championships last year.
The 26-year-old is also a much-loved member of the international gymnastics and Australian athletic communities, and a move in her name was added to the sport’s official rulebook last year.
Fellow Australian gymnast Heath Thorpe said in response to Godwin’s post, “my heart breaks for you”.
Olympic beach volleyballer Mariafe Artacho del Solar also offered her support. “Sending lots of love your way girl,” she said.
The selection of the Olympic team will be finalised following the national championships on the Gold Coast, which formally begin on Thursday.
Godwin had won the all around title at the meet seven times before, and represented Australia at her first Olympics in Tokyo.