Olympic Swimmer Tamara Potocka Collapses by Pool Following Event

Slovakian swimmer Tamara Potocka collapsed after completing a swimming event at the Olympic Games earlier this morning, leaving viewers at La Defense Arena in Nanterre, Paris shocked.

Potocka, 21, was quickly carried off on a stretcher following the accident. She competed in a heat of the women’s 200-meter individual medley and got out of the pool after finishing seventh, missing out on qualification for the later rounds.

She swam the race in a time of 2:14:20, with the heat being won by Canada’s Summer McIntosh, who has already won two gold medals at Paris 2024.

The venue’s media manager confirmed that the 21-year-old was conscious and under medical assessment, the Reuters news agency reported. According to BBC Sport, she has been receiving oxygen and remains under medical supervision.

Medics Quickly Rushed to the Scene in Paris

Potocka was quickly carried off on a stretcher

Moments after getting out of the pool, Potocka’s legs gave way and she tumbled to the ground, sitting poolside for a few seconds before slightly slumping backwards even as another eight swimmers lined up for the next heat.

Organisers were on full alert and realised that there was an issue and postponed the next swim as medical staff arrived on the scene.

Medics quickly placed an oxygen mask over Potocka, who was lying stationary, before carefully loading the Slovakian star onto a stretcher and rushing her out of the venue as many watched on in horror.

Following the distressing scenes at Paris 2024, the Slovakian Olympic team confirmed to The Athletic that the cause of the collapse was an asthma attack. She has since been given oxygen therapy and during the procedure has communicated.

Nobody Seemed to Realise There was an Issue at First

The live broadcast was getting ready for the next race

Just moments after the swim, many didn’t seem to realise that Potocka was experiencing some difficulty. The live broadcast showed the competitors for the next had taken to the poolside and were seconds away from competing in the next race.

Commentators had already begun previewing the competition. However, the camera then pulled back to reveal that Potocka and not left the venue and was sitting poolside, appearing to be in some discomfort.

The swimmer was still there as the swimmers for the next heat took their marks, and just seconds later, she fell back slightly and was seen lying on the tiles.

As the next heat was then delayed, the commentators were made aware that something wasn’t right as medical staff rushed to care for the Slovakian.

“This doesn’t look good… 15,000 people are now watching an athlete surrounded by medical staff and I can assure you it’s absolutely silent in here,” one broadcaster said.

“They’ve got a stretcher out, they’ve got an oxygen mask on the athlete, and I’m going to say… this looks very serious,’ he said.

“They’ve got the neck brace around so I can only imagine that someone has hit their head and has some kind of trauma – they want to immobilise the athlete.

“We hope that there’s nothing more than that…”

The Slovakian athlete is competing at her first Olympic Games having previously competed in the 2018 World Swimming Championships.