Canadian Olympian heptathlete Georgia Ellenwood re-injures herself at Pan Am Games
B.C.'s Ellenwood was competing in the heptathlon at the 2023 Pan Am Games
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Under Armour
B.C.’s Georgia Ellenwood, who finished 10th in the heptathlon at the 2020 Olympics, had only recently returned to competition after a long injury rehab when she re-injured her Achilles tendon at the Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile on Tuesday. Only hours before, Ellenwood was in second place after the 100-metre hurdles portion of the multi-event; the re-injury occurred during the next event–the high jump.
📽️ VIDEO | 🥺🇨🇦🏃La desgarradora lesión de Georgia Ellenwood durante el heptatlón de Santiago 2023
Más detalles acá 👉 https://t.co/xcPJW7nUGO pic.twitter.com/05m3aqwIrD
— Deportes13 (@deportes_13) November 1, 2023
“A face that’s been here before,” Ellenwood shared on Instagram after the incident. “Same leg; lower Achilles rupture. 580 days, back to zero.”
The heptathlon consists of seven events: the 100-metre hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200-meter dash, long jump, javelin, and 800-metre run, which take place in that order over a two-day period. Ellenwood wrote that she had an amazing start to her Pan Am Games: “I am angry and can’t understand why this has happened to me.. again,” she said. “I fought my way back, and it’s all stripped away in an instant.”
In February 2022, Ellenwood ruptured her Achilles while attempting to qualify in the women’s pentathlon (five events) for the World Athletics indoor track and field championships in Belgrade, Serbia. She set an 8.35-second personal best in the 100-metre hurdles, and then injured her Achilles on her high jump attempt. “I’ve found my way back once. So I’ll do it again,” Ellenwood said after the re-injury. “I can stay mad and sulk or I can start the process again immediately.”
The Pan Am Games are a continental multi-sport competition for the countries of North America, South America, Central America, the Caribbean and Canada. On Tuesday, Charles Philibert-Thiboutot earned Canada’s first track medal of these Games, taking silver in the 5,000 metres. The runner was initially awarded bronze, but was upgraded to silver after Mexico’s Daniel Martinez (who won the event) was disqualified for impeding American Kasey Knevelbaard in the final sprint.
Canada’s Charles Philibert-Thiboutot is back on the Pan Am Games podium — and a step higher than last time 🇨🇦🥈
Full story: https://t.co/unagULSjMQ pic.twitter.com/JEcoYxxigS
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) November 1, 2023
On Wednesday, fellow Canadian Grace Konrad narrowly missed the podium, taking fourth in her first international multi-sport games final. Konrad has had a stunning 2023 season, claiming her first national title in the women’s 400 metres and running a personal-best time in her world championship debut in August.
“The focus today was just to run bold,” she said post-race on Wednesday to media. “I wasn’t feeling super-confident going into today, so I just tried to go out strong and keep my heart in it and fight for it at the end.”
You can view the upcoming schedule and full results from the 2023 Pan American Games here.
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