European Games: Lauren Williams and Olivia Mathias out of GB squad for Krakow
- Published
Double Olympic champion Jade Jones (left) won gold in June's World Taekwondo Grand Prix in Rome
Olympic taekwondo medallist Lauren Williams and triathlete Olivia Mathias have pulled out of the 2023 European Games with hamstring injuries.
Their withdrawals leave nine Welsh athletes in the Team GB squad, including London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic champion Jade Jones.
Double Olympian Jasmine Joyce is part of the GB Rugby Sevens squad.
The multi-discipline sports event will take place in Krakow, Poland, from Wednesday and runs until 2 July.
Men's rugby sevens players Morgan and Tom Williams, boxers Rosie Eccles and Taylor Bevan, shooters Ben Llewellin and Georgina Roberts, and table tennis player Charlotte Carey complete the Welsh contingent in a Team GB squad competing across 18 Olympic disciplines, with qualification for the 2024 Paris Games on the line in many.
'I know I will come back stronger'
Tokyo 2020 taekwondo silver medallist Williams has had surgery after suffering a double injury in the Rome Grand Prix.
The 24-year-old from Blackwood described on her YouTube channel, external how she snapped a hamstring twice during the competition.
"Unfortunately in my first fight I ruptured my hamstring tendon quite high up, I insisted I carried on and got through as many fights as I could, with the bare minimum," said Williams.
"I knew the damage was done, I have a strangely good understanding of my body, and good intuition. I knew what I did right away.
"I was having way too much fun that day so for me it was a no brainer, I was going to carry on until I couldn't any more.
"In my second fight I ruptured it again but further down. I felt an overwhelming burning feeling shoot down my leg. My knee was unstable and felt I had no control. So I resort to moving and punching.
"After scans a couple of days later, I found out I have completely snapped my semimembranosus tendon in my hamstring in two places."
Despite the serious injury, Williams remains upbeat and is targeting a return at the 2024 Olympic Games.
"I have smiled and laughed the whole way through this process and I intend on keeping this energy. I love a challenge," she said.
"I am looking forward to how much this will mature me as an athlete and give me a chance to improve even more.
"Each time I have had an injury I have always come back to the mat with a new perspective, a fresh motivation and drive to win.
"I know I will come back stronger, it's not cliche, it's speaking from experience.
"I will be back for Paris stronger than ever."
Mathias' withdrawal follows a crash at the Europe Triathlon Championships in Madrid at the start of June.
"Unfortunately I'm having to pull out of the European Games 2023 next week in Poland," said the 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medallist on social media.
"Since crashing in Madrid scans show I've torn my hamstring, I'm gutted and especially frustrated.
"Fortunately the season is long and I'll be back soon."
Qualification for the Paris Olympics will be available in Krakow for those competing in archery, artistic swimming, boxing, breaking, canoe slalom, diving, modern pentathlon, rugby sevens, shooting and table tennis.
Meanwhile, ranking points toward places at the 2024 Games will be awarded to successful athletes in badminton, BMX freestyle, fencing, mountain bike, taekwondo and triathlon.
The third edition of the European Games, which have previously been held in Baku (2015) and Minsk (2019), will see around 7,000 athletes from 48 European nations compete across a 12-day sporting programme.
The opening ceremony will take place on Wednesday at Krakow's Henryk Reyman Municipal Stadium.