Team GB athlete Harry Coppell knocks out teeth in training session ahead of Tokyo Olympic Games

ByRichard Martin

Updated 23/07/2021 at 02:40 GMT

British pole vault champion Harry Coppell was practicing his technique ahead of the Games but the session came to an abrupt and painful end when the bar knocked two of his teeth out. But the 25-year-old saw the funny side of the accident and posted a picture of the damage on social media.

Team GB pole vaulter Harry Coppell will be chasing a medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games but he was left urgently looking for a dentist in the Japanese capital after a practice session went wrong.

British champion Coppell will be competing against world record holder Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis for gold and he was fine-tuning his technique at Team GB's training camp on Wednesday, only for a routine session to prove particularly painful for the 25-year-old, who was left with parts missing from his front two teeth.

Coppell cleared the bar in the practice run but then knocked it over with his chest and as he landed on the soft safety breaker, the bar came crashing down towards him.

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He attempted to catch the bar but could not prevent it smacking him in the face and taking out a sizeable chunk of one of his teeth while also damaging the other.

Coppell was quick to make light of the situation, however, and posted a video of the ill-fated run on his Twitter account.

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He wrote: “Got some good vaulting done tonight at the Team GB holding camp! HOWEVER. The bar then fell on my face and messed up all my teeth. I hope Tokyo 2020 has a good dentist around.”

The Brit also posted a close-up picture of his bleeding mouth and a slow-motion replay of the moment the bar impacted upon his face.

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