BULGARIA'S top sprinter, Ivet Lalova, broke her leg while warming up for the 100 m sprint in Athens, Greece.
On June 15, Lalova went through a four-hour operation at a local clinic on the hip bone of her right leg. Initially it was planned that the operation would be done in Helsinki, but medical advice was that moving her to Finland was too risky.
The surgery was done by one of the best sports doctors in the world, Professor Nikolau. He implanted four nails in Lalova's broken leg. It was announced that the operation went according to plan and would be successful. The Greek Athletics Federation and the organisers of the tournament in Athens covered all expenses for the surgery and the initial rehabilitation.
The Bulgarian sprinter is expected to recover in no less than six months and will definitely miss the remainder of the light athletics season. This means that Lalova will be unable to take part in the World Outdoor Championship this summer.
Lalova, 21 years old, returned to Bulgaria exactly a week after the incident, when her transportation did not present a risk to her health condition. At Sofia Airport, she was welcomed home by Sports Minister Vasil Ivanov, his deputy, Stefka Kostadinova, relatives, friends, and many fans.
"I would like to thank everybody who supported me in this difficult moment in my career. I am eager to get back on the track and be even better and faster than before. There is a lot of work to be done now. I need to do much more compared to the preparation I did before the World Championship," Lalova said.
"However, I feel that I am strong enough to go through this. I repeat: I will return on the track and I will be even better than before. I need to be 100 per cent fit before I can do this. Everything depends on me now", she said.
"We are definitely not going to force her rehabilitation. We will be patient. She needs to be 100 per cent fit before we could resume normal training. This means that we will sacrifice this season and make our plans for the following summer. Her participation in the World Outdoor and Indoor Championships this season is practically impossible," said Lalova's personal coach, Konstantin Milanov.