Instead of being the City of Love, Paris can well turn out to be the City of Nightmares. Getting injured before the biggest sporting tournament of the year isn’t something that any athlete would look forward to, but it’s called a bolt out of the blue for a reason. The Paris Olympics will be flagged off tomorrow, and gymnasts, like all other sports stars around the world, have been preparing for months, if not years, in a bid to etch their names among the elites. However, not all efforts will work out according to plans.

Keeping in mind the stakes, athletes from all countries have been cautious to ensure their peak physical conditions. And yet, injuries shine their ferocious claws just hours before the Opening Ceremony.

Hungarian website M4 Sport has shared shocking updates about one of the country’s most prominent gymnasts in an article today. The 2022 European Championships vault gold medalist Zsófia Kovács of Hungary has fallen prey to a freak injury while podium training, and this could keep her from competing on the biggest stage. Kovács injured the very knee on which she had to undergo surgeries last September due to a cruciate ligament.

The head coach of the Hungarian national team, Imre Draskóczy, stated, “…we and Zsófi’s coach, János Trenka, saw that her jump was also fine, but Zsófi got to her leg and unfortunately injured her operated leg. The medical team immediately took her into treatment.” He also revealed that an MRI is scheduled for tomorrow to decide whether the three-time European champion can indeed perform in the coming weeks while also noting that she can “almost certainly” be replaced by the alternate gymnasts.

Right after the surgery, Kovács chose to opt out of several tournaments, including last year’s World Championships, this year’s continental championships, the Hungarian national championships, and the Gymnastics World Cup, despite traveling to all of them with the team. However, the misfortune that befell the Hungarian star seems to have its eyes set on causing trouble to many of her international colleagues as well.

Paris Olympics hopes rummaged by injuries running wild

The legendary Uzbek gymnast Oksana Chusovitina also injured herself last month during training for the Asian Gymnastics Championships in her national capital and announced that she would be pulling out of the race to Paris. Along with the eight-time Olympian, the USA’s three-time Olympic gold medalist, Gabby Douglas, also had to wave goodbye to her hope of representing the nation at the big showdown. Returning to action after eight long years, Douglas could have had one last emphatic ride at the Olympics, but an ankle injury forced her to pull out of the U.S. Gymnastics Championships, making it impossible for the 28-year-old to secure a spot in Team USA.

Two-time World Championships team gold medalists Skye Blakely and Shilese Jones were also forced to end their Parisian dreams after having run-ins with injuries. After a seminal second-place finish at the Xfinity US Championships, Blakely injured her Achilles at the US Olympic Team Trials and had to be carried off the arena. Jones, too, injured her knee at the Trials and had to take her exit from the road to the French capital.

Furthermore, Dutch gymnast and two-time European Championships medalist Vera van Pol also withdrew from the 2024 Games after a foot injury. While all these stars will now have to watch their compadres from the sidelines, which country and squad do you think will have the last laugh when the dust settles in the French capital?