RUSSIAN archer Svetland Gomboeva lost consciousness during a qualifying Olympic round after collapsing in the brutal Tokyo heat.
The 23-year-old was checking her final scores before she fainted in the blistering 33 degrees Celsius sun, with medics and team-mates rushing to her aid.
Gomboeva, who qualified 45th of 64 archers in the women’s event on Friday, had to be taken out of the arena on a stretcher.
Ice bags were given to the female athlete in an attempt to cool her down, with Gomboeva quickly regaining consciousness.
She is said to now be recovering well, with the 2021 Archery World Cup recurve gold medallist to compete in the individual and team events later in the Games.
The Tokyo heatwave forced coaches and staff to huddle under trees for shade.
And Gomboeva’s coach Stanislav Popov declared that the unbearable temperature was too much for her.
In quotes published by the Russian Olympic Committee, he said: “We hope that she will be okay.
“It turns out that she couldn’t stand a whole day out in the heat.
“This is the first time I remember this happening. In Vladivostok, where we were training before this, the weather was similar. But humidity played a role here.”
Gomboeva’s team-mate Ksenia Perova added: “It’s probably heatstroke.
“It’s very hot here and the asphalt is really baking. Of course there are also nerves, but the main reason is still the weather.”
South Korea’s Kang Chae-young, who came third in the individual ranking rounds, said she had not experienced anything like Tokyo’s heatwave conditions in other recent events.
Meanwhile Australia’s Alice Ingley has offered some simple advice for her fellow competitors on how to beat the heat.
She told Reuters: “Cooling vest, slushies, fans, umbrellas, just all that, just try to keep out of the heat as much as possible.
“And drink water as much as possible.”
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Source: Athletics - thesun.co.uk
