Olympic heartbreak for golden girl
Australian gymnastics star Georgia Godwin has been denied her shot at a second Olympic Games after suffering a “heartbreaking” achilles injury in training.
Godwin was one of the athletes chosen to model the uniforms the Australian team members will wear at the opening ceremony in Paris two weeks ago and was in heavy training for the Australian Gymnastics Championships on the Gold Coast when she suffered the injury.
The seven-time national all around champion was an integral part of Australia’s women’s artistic gymnastics team that secured a team place in Paris with their strong showing at last year’s world championships.
Godwin, 26, became just the fifth Australian to have an original move named in her honour, with “The Godwin” now in the global scoring system for gymnastics.
The move on the uneven bars, involving a clear hip circle and a forward to handstand with a 360 degrees in a handstand phase, has now entered the global scoring system for gymnastics.
Godwin, who created the original move, debuted it for the first time in 2023 but won’t be able to unleash it in Paris.
“I’ve sustained an achilles injury, it’s extremely heartbreaking, it’s not ideal,” an emotional Godwin posted on social media.
“I’ll have a chat with the surgeon, we’ll see how we go from there.
“I’m trying to be as positive as possible, but I’ll need time to process it.”