LONDON – British gymnast Louis Smith, the Olympic and world bronze medalist on pommel horse, still hopes to compete at a World Cup meet next week despite a broken finger.
Smith stubbed his finger while working on high bar Tuesday, and X-rays showed a "slight fracture on the ring finger of his right hand." But Smith is still training, posting pictures of himself doing pommel horse routines Thursday on Twitter. He is scheduled to compete at the April 7-8 World Cup event in Zibo, China.
"Thankfully it doesn't seem to be as bad as I thought. It's just an occupational hazard being a gymnast and doing what we do," Smith said in a statement. "From past experiences my initial thought was that I may be out of action for three or four weeks, but thankfully where the problem is it hasn't stopped me from getting on with my training, which is a massive relief."
Smith is one of Britain's biggest medal hopes for this summer's London Olympics. His bronze on pommel horse at the Beijing Games was the first medal by a British gymnast in almost a century. He won Britain's only medal at the world championships last fall.
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