Paris (AFP)
Mehdy Metella, silver medalist in the 4x100m freestyle relay at the 2016 Olympics, will not participate in the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 due to a left shoulder injury which will require an operation, the French swimmer announced on Monday evening .
"For several weeks now, we have everything in place to be ready for the start of the year, we have followed all the protocols given by the doctors. Unfortunately, that was not enough and I have to go through the operation of the 'shoulder', writes Metella on her Instagram account.
"It is a huge disappointment for me not to be able to participate in the next Olympic Games. I am extremely disappointed and sad to miss this event, but I promise to come back stronger in 2021," added the 27-year-old swimmer, also titled with the French relay at the Kazan Worlds in 2015 and at the Euro-2014 in Berlin.
At the beginning of December, he had already missed the European short course championships due to this shoulder injury and his World long course championships in August had been a failure.
A 100m world bronze medalist in 2017, the Guyanese did not qualify for the final of the queen race. And, although arriving with the second best time of the season (50.85), he was only fifth in the 100m butterfly (51.62).
In addition to his relay titles, Mehdy Metella also won a silver medal in Euro-2018 in the 100m butterfly and a bronze in the 100m freestyle.
A one-shoulder operation usually requires recovery from four to six months.
© 2019 AFP