Twell suffers injury blow
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ByEurosport
Updated 14/02/2011 at 16:59 GMT
Steph Twell's chances of adding a World Championship medal to her Commonwealth Games bronze suffered a serious blow after she suffered a fractured ankle during the Cross Cup in Hannut, Belgium.
Steph Twell
Image credit: Reuters
The 21-year-old, who represents Scotland, was using the race to prepare for next month's World Cross Country Championships when she slipped and fell towards the end of the 6km circuit.
Twell claimed world junior gold over 1500m in 2008 before making her senior breakthrough with a third place finish over the same distance at October's Commonwealths in Delhi.
Already a veteran of the Beijing Olympics, Twell has high hopes of claiming her first Games medal in London but after having the injury reset and put in plaster her sole aim now is recovery.
This summer's World Championships begin in Daegu in late August giving Twell less than six months to get herself back to her peak - but coach Mick Woods insists he won't rush his young star.
"There's no timeframe for recovery, but I can't imagine it will heal quickly," said Woods.
"And we don't know if there any complications. It will need serious investigation. She's very down and very depressed.
"She knew the course was difficult. She was miles ahead of the other runners and had only 600m to go.
"She heard the ankle break and got up to try and run, but went straight to ground.
"It's so unfortunate. She has just returned from a three-and-a-half-week altitude training camp in Kenya and won a race last weekend in Spain.
"No bone was exposed, contrary to other reports. There are no issues with the fibula, but there is some issue with the ankle bone. She will have an MRI scan on Monday."
UKA today released a statement to confirm that there was no open fracture.
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