Olympic contender Blakely hurt in training for US gymnastics trials

Skye Blakely, a two-time team world champion expected to contend for a Paris berth at the US Olympic gymnastics trials, was hurt in floor exercise training on Wednesday.

The 19-year-old from Texas completed a tumbling pass and fell to the mat at Target Centre and was promptly attended by medical staff before being carried off the podium and departing the arena in a wheelchair with an apparent leg injury.

There was no immediate update on her status for the trials, with women's competition scheduled for Friday and Sunday and the five-woman team for Paris to be named on Sunday night.

Blakely arrived in Minneapolis off a runner-up finish to Simone Biles earlier this month at the US championships in Fort Worth, Texas, where she unveiled a more difficult vault that made her the only woman besides Biles to post a 15-point apparatus score.

In 2021, Blakely was hurt warming up on vault shortly before competition began at the trials for the Tokyo Games, although that year she was a 16-year-old up-and-comer who was not considered a favourite to make the team.