Noor Vidts ends season due to lingering hamstring injury
Heptathlon athlete Noor Vidts is ending her season because of a lingering hamstring injury, she confirmed Sunday evening on VRT. The Olympic bronze medallist will therefore miss the Memorial Van Damme and next month’s World Championships in Tokyo.
The 29-year-old heptathlete, who won bronze at the Paris Olympics, has been struggling with hamstring tendon problems since. “Since then, I have been training in pain and the rehabilitation process has been very slow,” Vidts said.
Unable to prepare properly for competition, she and her team decided to cut the season short. This will also prevent further complications, Vidts explained, because her injury is not yet completely healed.
No world title for Thiam?
Her withdrawal leaves Nafi Thiam as Belgium’s only potential contender for a heptathlon medal at September's Worlds Athletics Championships in Tokyo. The triple Olympic champion made her comeback from injury at the Belgian Athletics Championships earlier this month.
But Thiam’s participation in Tokyo remains uncertain. Athletes selected for the championships must sign the Belgian Athletics Federation’s code of conduct, which she has so far refused to do. The deadline for submitting participating athletes is 24 August.
According to Le Soir, the dispute stems from conflicting sponsorships: Thiam’s personal clothing sponsor, Nike, conflicts with the federation’s deal with Asics. Signing the code also involves making commitments to other federation partners regarding image rights, which contradict her sponsorship contracts.
In the meantime, Thiam is preparing for the competition. Speaking at a hurdles event in Leuven on Saturday, she said she was happy with her progress, but declined to comment on the dispute. Thiam will also compete in the long jump at the Memorial Van Damme in Brussels later this week.
#FlandersNewsService | © BELGA PHOTO DAVID PINTENS
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