Pentathlete breaks down in floods of tears live on BBC at World Indoor Athletics Championship after devastating injury

A SPANISH pentathlete was left in tears after rupturing her Achilles tendon at the World Athletics Indoor Championships.

Maria Vicente, a triple jump youth Olympic medallist, injured herself as she attempted a high jump in the morning session at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow.

Reuters

Maria Vicente suffered a nasty-looking injury as she attempted a high hump[/caption]

She burst into tears after hitting the mat

AFP

Vicente appeared to damage her Achilles[/caption]

Reuters

She was quickly attended to by medical staff[/caption]

Reuters

The Spaniard looked in agony as she was wheeled away on a stretcher[/caption]

The 22-year-old laid on the crash mat in agony before being attended to by medical staff, concerned teammates and Spanish coaching members.

Vicente had already cleared heights of 1.67 metres and 1.70 metres in the competition but when she tried to take on 1.73 metres, it all went horribly wrong.

In clear distress, Vicente was stretchered away from the arena to a backstage medical room, and was later seen in a wheelchair.

Tears continued to flow as she left the field of play and she put her hands on her head.

It meant the end of her competition in the women’s pentathlon, which starts and ends on Friday.

Depending on how bad the issue is, it could also mean she misses out on competing at the Paris Summer Olympics.

Vicente finished 18th in the heptathlon with 6,117 points at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021.

It was a real blow for Vicente who had topped the leaderboard after the first event.

She scored 1113 points for winning the second heat in the 60m hurdles, posting a top speed of 8.07 out of all 12 pentathletes.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson is the reigning world heptathlon champion but she has decided against competing at the World Indoors this weekend.

A number of home-grown high-profile individuals have stayed away from the event even though it is being held on UK soil.