Tamara Potocka Courtesy of Tamara Potocka/Instagram
Slovakian swimmer Tamara Potocka collapsed on the pool deck following her Olympics qualifying race in Paris.
Potocka, 21, competed in one of many 5 heats for the ladies’s 200-meter particular person medley on Friday, August 2. After the race concluded and the swimmers left the water, Potocka fell to the bottom. An Olympics broadcast confirmed Potocka receiving quick first help, which included an oxygen masks, earlier than being carried out of La Défense Enviornment on a stretcher.
In keeping with the Related Press, poolside medical personnel indicated that she was acutely aware on the scene.
The Slovakian Olympic workforce later confirmed to The Athletic that Potocka suffered an bronchial asthma assault. She acquired oxygen remedy and was taken to the hospital. Per the workforce officers, Potocka will proceed to be monitored by medical workers.
The 2024 Summer time Olympics could be happening within the Metropolis of Mild, however that doesn’t imply they haven’t include their fair proportion of darkness. Following a flashy opening ceremony on Friday, July 26 that continues to attract outrage from some celebrities and non secular figures, the Video games have been stricken by allegations of sexism […]
Fellow athlete Lea Polonsky, who represented Israel in a unique ladies’s 200-meter particular person medley warmth, later instructed reporters that swimmers like Potocka know their sport has sure dangers.
“In fact, that’s one thing at the back of your thoughts, however we do day by day push ourselves to the restrict,” Polonsky, 22, mentioned on Friday. “You all the time know one thing like that may occur. It’s not one thing you consider in the course of the race, however it’s all the time there.
Forward of Friday’s race, Potocka documented her Olympic expertise and opening ceremony outfits through social media. Potocka made her Olympics debut on the Paris Video games, which formally kicked off July 26. On Friday, she completed seventh in her medley warmth with a time of two minutes and 14.20 seconds. The place was not quick sufficient to advance to the occasion semifinal race.
Potocka is an occasion specialist, solely competing within the ladies’s 200-meter particular person medley in Paris. She was beforehand a four-time finalist on the 2024 European Championships.
There are 5 heats within the ladies’s 200-meter particular person medley, main right into a semifinal and ultimate race. The USA has Kate Douglass and Alexandra Walsh competing. Douglass, 22, gained her first gold medal within the ladies’s 200-meter breaststroke on Thursday, August 1.
Tamara Potocka Courtesy of Tamara Potocka/Instagram
“The temper is nice, the vibes are nice. We’re very happy with ourselves and happy with how we’ve accomplished,” Douglass gushed to reporters of her and the remainder of Group USA’s total podium placements. “Profitable the 200 breaststroke has been a objective for just a few months now.”
Walsh, 23, has but to win a medal on the Paris Olympics.
