Izbasa Injured, Out Of Worlds

From International Gymnastics:

2008 Olympic floor exercise champion Sandra Izbasa of Romania was injured in Buzau on Thursday, but witnesses say it could have been a lot worse.
Izbasa, 19, was tumbling a piked full-in back-out on floor exercise when her right Achilles' tendon snapped on the takeoff.

"I didn't know what happened," Izbasa told IG. "I heard a pop and thought it was the floor."

Izbasa said she felt like she was only one meter above the floor, and that she pulled the skill around as best she could.

"If there is something gratifying, is that it's better mentally because this injury could have been a tragedy and we were all scared," said Nicolae Forminte, Romanian national coach.

Izbasa was taken to University Hospital in Bucharest for evaluation. She also has a fracture in her right foot, and her left arm will be in a cast for three weeks because of a stress fracture. She will have surgery on her Achilles' tendon on Monday.

The injury will keep Izbasa out of the 2009 World Championships in October, and she will likely be replaced by alternate Gabriela Dragoi. The other three team members are Anamaria Tamarjan, Diana Chelaru and Ana Porgras.



That sucks. The poor girl is gonna look like she's in a full body cast! >.<