DPA
Berlin
World and joint Olympic high jump champion Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy is in hospital with a suspected kidney stone, just a head of Wednesday’s start of his Paris Games competition.
Tamberi posted a picture of himself in a hospital bed on Instagram and said: “Unbelievable ... this can’t be true.
“Yesterday, 2 hours after writing ‘I deserve it’ on social media, I felt a stabbing pain in my side. ER [emergency room], CT scan, ultrasound, blood test .... probable kidney stone.
“And now I find myself, three days before the event for which I sacrificed everything, lying in a bed, helpless, with a fever of 38.8.”
Tamberi, 32, said he has been advised by doctors not to travel to Paris until Monday ahead of qualifying, with the final on Saturday.
He famously shared Tokyo 2020 gold with Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim after both decided not to contest a jump-off for gold after being tied. Tamberi won the world title last year.
“All I can do is wait and pray,” he said.
“Only one thing is certain, I don’t know how I will get there, but I will be there on that platform and I will give my soul until the last jump, whatever my condition will be.”
