It is like building a castle of sand with all sincerity, only to be destroyed in a moment. As the biggest sporting event in the world returns to the French capital a century later, the tournaments and events leading up to it have been intense. However, despite their best efforts, not every athlete will head to the European metropolitan, and Olympic medalist Emma Coburn is the latest name to pull out of this year’s Games because of injury.

On the way to Paris, the 2024 Wanda Diamond League promised an opportunity for athletes to test the waters and showcase their skills. While most track and field stars from around the world managed to make the most of the chance, fate had other plans for Emma. The three-time Olympic team member entered but couldn’t finish the women’s 3000m steeplechase because of an injury mid-race. In her latest Instagram post, Coburn updated fans about her latest condition. “I don’t really know what to say… i broke my ankle on the water jump in Shanghai,” notified her disheartened post.

Coburn also stated that while initially, she thought her injuries weren’t too severe, her illusion was soon brought up to date with the reality as a broken ankle and subsequent surgery halted her dreams of making it to the Olympics for a fourth time. “I’m out for the Olympic Trials. The dream of Paris is over,” her disappointment was prominent. Now, as she is told, she can start getting back in shape in 6 weeks. It waits to be seen if Coburn can end her professional career on a high note, or if she succumbs to the injury incurred last Saturday. But Emma isn’t the only one whose journey to the Olympics fell short of materialization.

More athletes have been pulling out in silence

The 2020 Olympic gold medalist Yulimar Rojas won’t be defending her triple jump title at the upcoming Olympics because of an Achilles tendon injury. “With much pain and sadness I want to tell you that, while I was descending from a jump at training, I felt an intense pain that was diagnosed as an injury to the left Achilles tendon“, informed Rojas in a social media post in April. The US has more injury withdrawals along the same line.

Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Molly Seidel announced back in January that she was withdrawing from the U.S. Olympic marathon trials because of a knee injury. “About a month ago, my knee took this huge turn for the worse. I couldn’t run on it at all,” Seidel shared on Instagram. During the Tokyo Olympics, Seidel finished second at the trials, her first-ever marathon, and earned a spot in Tokyo. Injury woes are affecting athletes from other countries as well.

Commonwealth and Asian Games silver medalist Murali Sreeshankar of India also pulled out of the race to the top of the podium as an unexpected knee injury halted his Paris hopes in April. The long jumper injured his left knee, which is also his take-off knee, during a practice session and had to let go of the thought of bringing glory to his country at the quadrennial event in July. Like Coburn, Sreeshankar will also have to undergo surgery to regain his health but will have to watch the Paris Games from the sidelines.

Freya Anderson, the British swimmer, also had to opt out of the British Championships after a bout with glandular fever. While we hope for their speedy recovery, fans are also excited to see if their loud cheers for the national teammates inject any extra boost into the nail-biting event that the Paris Olympics 2024 is shaping up to be.