Swimmer Tamara Potocka COLLAPSES After 200-Meter Individual Medley Race in 2024 Olympics
Slovakian athlete Tamara Potocka collapsed after completing a swim at the Olympic Games this morning, leaving spectators at the Paris Aquatics Centre shocked as she was hurriedly carried away on a stretcher.
The 21-year-old competed in a heat of the women's 200-meter individual medley at 10:30 am BST this morning and clambered out of the pool having come in seventh, missing out on qualification for the later rounds.
She was seen sitting poolside for a few seconds in clear distress, even as another eight swimmers lined up for the next heat, before slumping backward.
Organizers realized something was wrong and postponed the next swim as medical staff descended on the scene.
Medics quickly placed an oxygen mask over the face of the young Slovak, who was lying motionless, before carefully loading her onto a stretcher and rushing her out of the La Defense arena as her British rival Abbie Wood watched on in horror.
It comes as two other competitors suffered what appeared to be serious injuries in Paris' Stade de France today as the athletics got underway in the French capital.
For a few moments following Potocka's swim, nobody realized the Slovak athlete was experiencing some difficulty.
The live broadcast showed how eight new competitors had taken to the starting blocks and were stripping off, seemingly seconds away from leaping into the water as commentators began previewing the next heat.
But the camera then pulled back to reveal how Potocka, wearing a blue skinsuit, had not left the venue and was sitting mere feet from the poolside, clearly experiencing considerable fatigue.
She was still there as the swimmers for the next heat took their marks, and seconds later she slumped backward and was seen lying prone on the tiles.
Commentators clocked that something wasn't right as the next heat was delayed and medical staff rushed poolside.
'This doesn't look good... 15,000 people are now watching an athlete surrounded by medical staff and I can assure you it's silent in here,' one broadcaster said as they witnessed medical staff crowding around the swimmer.
'They've got a stretcher out, they've got an oxygen mask on the athlete, and I'm going to say... this looks very serious,' he said.
'They've got the neck brace around so I can only imagine that someone has hit their head and has some kind of trauma - they want to immobilize the athlete.
'We hope that there's nothing more than that...'
After a tense 30 minutes, the venue's media manager confirmed Potocka was conscious and under medical assessment, but gave no further update on her condition.
Slovakia's Olympic team later confirmed to The Athletic that the swimmer had suffered an asthma attack and was recovering having received oxygen therapy.
Potocka finished seventh in her heat in a time of 2 minutes, 14.20 seconds.
The 21-year-old competed in a heat of the women's 200-meter individual medley at 10:30 am BST this morning and clambered out of the pool having come in seventh, missing out on qualification for the later rounds.
She was seen sitting poolside for a few seconds in clear distress, even as another eight swimmers lined up for the next heat, before slumping backward.
Organizers realized something was wrong and postponed the next swim as medical staff descended on the scene.
Medics quickly placed an oxygen mask over the face of the young Slovak, who was lying motionless, before carefully loading her onto a stretcher and rushing her out of the La Defense arena as her British rival Abbie Wood watched on in horror.
It comes as two other competitors suffered what appeared to be serious injuries in Paris' Stade de France today as the athletics got underway in the French capital.
For a few moments following Potocka's swim, nobody realized the Slovak athlete was experiencing some difficulty.
The live broadcast showed how eight new competitors had taken to the starting blocks and were stripping off, seemingly seconds away from leaping into the water as commentators began previewing the next heat.
But the camera then pulled back to reveal how Potocka, wearing a blue skinsuit, had not left the venue and was sitting mere feet from the poolside, clearly experiencing considerable fatigue.
She was still there as the swimmers for the next heat took their marks, and seconds later she slumped backward and was seen lying prone on the tiles.
Commentators clocked that something wasn't right as the next heat was delayed and medical staff rushed poolside.
'This doesn't look good... 15,000 people are now watching an athlete surrounded by medical staff and I can assure you it's silent in here,' one broadcaster said as they witnessed medical staff crowding around the swimmer.
'They've got a stretcher out, they've got an oxygen mask on the athlete, and I'm going to say... this looks very serious,' he said.
'They've got the neck brace around so I can only imagine that someone has hit their head and has some kind of trauma - they want to immobilize the athlete.
'We hope that there's nothing more than that...'
After a tense 30 minutes, the venue's media manager confirmed Potocka was conscious and under medical assessment, but gave no further update on her condition.
Slovakia's Olympic team later confirmed to The Athletic that the swimmer had suffered an asthma attack and was recovering having received oxygen therapy.
Potocka finished seventh in her heat in a time of 2 minutes, 14.20 seconds.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Slovakian athlete Tamara Pitaka collapsed after completing a swim at the Olympic Games this
00:11morning, leaving spectators at the Paris Aquatics Center shocked as she was hurriedly carried away
00:16on a stretcher. The 21-year-old competed in a heat of the women's 200-meter individual medley at 10.30
00:22a.m. British summer time this morning and clambered out of the pool having come in seventh,
00:26missing out on qualification for the later rounds. She was seen sitting poolside for a few seconds
00:32in clear distress, even as another eight swimmers lined up for the next heat, before slumping
00:37backward. Organizers realized something was wrong and postponed the next swim as medical staff
00:42descended on the scene. Medics quickly placed an oxygen mask over the face of the young Slovak,
00:48who was lying motionless, before carefully loading her onto a stretcher and rushing her
00:52out of the La Defense Arena as her British rival Abby would watch dawn in horror. It comes as two
00:58other competitors suffered what appeared to be serious injuries in Paris' Stade de France today
01:02as the athletics got underway in the French capital. For a few moments following Pitaka's
01:07swim, nobody realized the Slovak athlete was experiencing some difficulty. The live broadcast
01:13showed how eight new competitors had taken to the starting blocks and were stripping off,
01:17seemingly seconds away from leaping into the water as commentators began previewing the next heat.