The warning for the athlete who collapsed on the track and received no help from rivals: ‘Don’t see the pictures’

Athlete Jason Joseph’s unsportsmanlike gesture went around the world. It is that after winning the 60m hurdles final at the European Athletics Indoor Championships held in Istanbul, Turkey, the Swiss continued his celebration as the body of his rival and colleague lay On the ground. Quique Llopis.

The Spanish rider hit the last fence before reaching the finish line. As the rest of the competitors continued to complete their course, Joseph was the first to turn around and saw his colleague lying on the track unable to move. Far from helping her or seeing what happened to her, the contest winner continued to party.

Following the impact, Llopis lost consciousness and spent four minutes on the runway of the Atakoy Arena. Once in the hospital, an x-ray and computed axial tomography were performed to exclude bone and neurological lesions. In the last hours, the Spanish athlete landed in Valencia and was then transferred to Gandía, his place of residence.

One of those who had contact with the press was his trainer Tony Puigwho celebrated what his student’s recovery was like, to whom he left a warning of what happened. “My advice is not to look at the pictures, but eventually you will. It will be necessary to analyze why he hung (on the fence), but I think that at the moment it is not appropriate “said.

“The only thing that worries me now is his state of health, not even his sporting state, just his state of health,” added Puig about the accident suffered by Llopis.

For his part, the poster specialist also spoke to the journalists present at Manises airport in Valencia. “I’m fine, much better now. I still have a bit of a headache, my ear is a bit clogged, but all the tests they have done have been fine and they told me that over time the ear and the head would be resolved,” Llopis explained.

When asked if he had any memory of what happened on the track when setting the 60m event, the 22-year-old Spaniard admitted he still struggled to remember: “It was a bit chaotic. Little by little I remembered everything until the moment of the fall. I remember being in the air, falling and then, obviously, I don’t remember anything.

“The main thing now is health, running is secondary. Now to recover and I hope to return as soon as possible”, underlined the Iberian athlete and also thanked the expressions of affection he received from his supporters.

Llopis Domenech was a bronze medalist at the European Under-23 tournament which took place in Estonia in 2021 and last year he also reached the last place of the podium at the Mediterranean Games which took place in Oran, in Algeria. Your next target will be Athletics World Championship which will take place in Budapest from August 19 to 27.

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