Devastating diagnosis
Olympic hero Toba is worried about his big dream
October 5, 2023, 8:59 p.m
In the case of German gymnast Andreas Toba, the feared renewed complete cruciate ligament tear has not been confirmed, but the veteran still has to worry about taking part in the Olympic Games next year after his injury shortly before the World Championships in Antwerp.
Gymnast Andreas Toba is worried about his start at the Olympic Games in Paris. The 32-year-old partially tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee before the start of the World Cup in Antwerp. He announced this on Instagram after a detailed investigation. “The season is over for me,” Toba wrote.
He will sit out the next six to ten weeks – in the hope that the cruciate ligament will heal and he will be able to survive without surgery. “I hope I can gather my strength again next year to make my dream of the Paris Olympics come true,” he said. He promises that he will fight and hold on to every blade of hope until he can no longer.
The 2021 European Championship runner-up on the horizontal bar sustained the injury during podium training and had to forego playing for the German team during the qualification. Instead, he supported the team in the elimination and in the all-around final last Tuesday as a supervisor.
Even though the worst possible diagnosis was not made, Toba was depressed. “Only God knows what’s going on inside me and how incredibly strenuous this task is. The scars that are left on the soul are not visible from the outside and right now, in probably the most difficult situation of my life, there is little light on the horizon, The only positive thing right now is that the injury isn’t any worse.”
Toba made headlines at the 2016 Rio Olympics. At that time, the Hanoverian tore the cruciate ligament in his right knee during his floor exercise during the qualification for the team final, but he still completed his exercise on the pommel horse – and the German team made it to the final. Toba was then given the nickname “Hero de Janeiro”.