Former Olympic skier Chemmy Alcott sustained a collapsed lung after a botched front flip dive during a vacation in Annecy, France. Alcott shared the incident on Instagram, describing it as a "very expensive lesson."
The 44-year-old athlete realized she was not breathing properly after an incorrect rotation in the air during the dive. She sought medical attention at a local hospital, where she underwent a procedure to insert a chest drain.
Alcott stated that while most people might simply be winded after a similar dive from a five-meter platform, her experience involved a collapsed lung and a chest drain, attributing it to "rotation."
Visuals shared in her Instagram reel depicted the dive itself, followed by Alcott in a hospital gown with medical equipment attached, including what appeared to be the chest drain tube. She mentioned that the realization of her injury occurred after exiting the water and attempting another jump, driven by embarrassment to avoid making a spectacle.
Alcott was later joined at the hospital by her husband and their two children, Locki and Cooper. "Turns out 5 metres is quite a long way to discover you’ve got the rotation wrong," she wrote in a caption accompanying a video. "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. 😂"
Fellow athletes sent messages of support. Former Olympic diver Tom Daley commented, "Diving is crazy!" and skier Lindsey Vonn, who raced alongside Alcott, wrote, "Damn Chem! Heal up ❤️."
Alcott had a distinguished 20-year skiing career, competing in four consecutive Olympic Games from 2002 in Salt Lake City to 2014. Her career highlights include an 11th-place finish in the downhill event at the Turin Olympics and in the super combined at Vancouver. She retired from professional skiing in March 2014 after the British Alpine championships.