Painful start to Wigan medal hope's Olympic adventure

Wigan's pole vaulting gold medal hope Harry Coppull has had a smashing start to his Olympic adventure - but not in a good way!
A close-up of Harry Coppull's painful start to his Olympic adventure (Pic: Harry Coppull twitter)A close-up of Harry Coppull's painful start to his Olympic adventure (Pic: Harry Coppull twitter)
A close-up of Harry Coppull's painful start to his Olympic adventure (Pic: Harry Coppull twitter)

As he got in some practice ahead of the Tokyo Games, which get under way on Friday, the 25-year-old suffered a painful mishap after clipping the bar on his way over.

Having landing on the crash mat, Coppull could then only look up helplessly as the pole descended towards him at great speed.

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He was able to get his hands in the way, but they did little to protect his poor face from bearing the full brunt.

Coppull was able to see the funny side, however, tweeting a picture of his bruised face minus half a front tooth.

"Got some good vaulting done tonight at the @teamgb holding camp," he tweeted. "HOWEVER… - The bar then fell on my face and messed up all my teeth I hope @tokyo2020 has a good dentist around."

Coppull's partner, Emily Borthwick, has also tweeted pictures from inside the stadium, after getting in some practice ahead of her high jump event.

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