German gymnast Andreas Toba was injured in training and will miss the World Championships starting this weekend.
The 32-year-old veteran suffered a knee injury on the floor during an acrobatic run, as the German Gymnastics Federation (DTB) announced one day after the incident.
Details of the injury were not given; after a stress test and consultation with the team doctor, men’s coach Valeri Belenki removed the Lower Saxony man from the team. Nick Klessing (Halle) will compete for Toba in the team all-around competition on Saturday.
“This is of course not an easy situation just before the start of the World Cup, but we will make the best of it,” said coach Belenki. “Nick is an experienced gymnast, I’m sure he will help the team.”
Toba is not the first failure for the DTB before the World Cup in Belgium, which also involves starting places for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. In the women’s competition, Emma Malewski was recently sidelined due to a foot injury and Elisabeth Seitz due to a torn Achilles tendon.