Olympic athlete Chemmy Alcott has revealed she suffered from a collapsed lung after an unsuccessful front flip into a lake whilst on holiday in France.
Incident and Hospitalisation
The BBC Sport presenter, 44, shared a video to Instagram on Thursday of herself attempting the stunt from a five-metre platform, before landing badly and ending up in hospital. The post also features photos of an injured Alcott after collapsing her lung and receiving a chest drain.
Alcott's Account
As she narrated the video, Alcott said: “Most people badly time a front flip off a five-metre platform and get winded. I apparently don’t do things by halves. A collapsed lung, a chest drain and a very expensive lesson in rotation.”
In the caption, Alcott joked that the situation “escalated quickly”, and added: “One badly timed front flip. One very hard landing. One collapsed lung. One chest drain. And a few more hospital overnights than were on the holiday itinerary… I absolutely loved Annecy… but I’m not entirely sure it loved me back.”
Medical Context and Career
The NHS describes a collapsed lung, or a pneumothorax, as a medical condition which occurs when air becomes trapped in the space between the lung and the chest wall.
Alcott is a former ski champion who had a successful career on the slopes, and made history as the first and only British female skier to win a run in a World Cup race. The athlete has won seven British National titles, and competed in multiple Winter Olympics before retiring from the sport in 2014 due to the physical and mental toll it took on her body.
The star has since pivoted towards a career in broadcasting and TV presenting, and joined magazine show Ski Sunday as a regular host in 2020. Alcott was also involved in the BBC Winter Olympics coverage for this year’s competition, which was held in Milan and Cortina.
