AN UNFORTUNATE hurdler was rushed to hospital in a neck brace after suffering a sickening fall during a race.
Enrique Llopis, a medal hopeful in the Men’s 60m Hurdles final at the European Indoor Championships, was left motionless on the ground after his fall.
The 22-year-old Spaniard fell on the final hurdle before crashing to the ground and whacking his head on the floor.
Medical staff rushed to attend to the motionless Llopis, who was then shielded by a white tent.
After several minutes of treatment, he was then carried off on a stretcher to applause from the Atakoy Arena crowd after a doctor gave a thumbs-up.
The Spanish confederation confirmed Llopis was transported to hospital but was conscious.
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Late last night the federation posted an update.
And thankfully it was good news, with them posting a tweet thanking everyone for their support with a video of Llopis speaking from a hospital bed.
Llopis had won his semi-final for the event earlier in the day.
His heart-wrenching fall came on the same day Brit Keely Hodgkinson won the Women’s 800m event.
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Hodgkinson could not improve on her own 800m record set last month, but nevertheless came away with gold from the event – dedicating her achievement to her late coach.
The 21-year-old said: “I haven’t had time to process it but my old coach, Joe Galvin, passed away a few days ago. Really unexpected.
“This one is definitely for him. He had a lot of belief in a 10-year-old me. That medal is for him.
“I hope I have made him really proud. His wife Margaret, I know she will be proud of me as well.
“I wanted to make the others in the race work for it. I’m really happy to defend my title.
“I want to keep building on this, performing and bringing back medals. I’m living the dream.”
Source: Athletics - thesun.co.uk
