Just a few days after 2017 World Champion Gabriele Detti of Italy announced he was dropping out of the European Championships, another big name in Spain’s Mireia Belmonte announced on social media she is dropping out of the meet citing an injury.
This is another big blow to the meet as two of the continent’s biggest stars will not be attending the Championships in Glasgow. The meet starts two weeks from today and the star power just got a little weaker with the elimination of Belmonte from the entry list.
Belmonte made her announcement via a tweet in Spanish, and when translated it roughly reads:
“The dizziness of recent months prevents me from competing with guarantees in the Europeans of Glasgow. After the medical tests, all satisfactory, the doctors recommended me not to force. Desiring to prepare myself vigorously for the Worlds ’19 in Korea. All my support to the Spanish team.”
This is not the first time Belmonte has withdrawn from a major meet due to an injury. She did the same thing in the lead-up to the 2015 World Championships in Russia.
Belmonte was the 2014 European Champion in the 200 fly and 1500 free. She also won two other European titles in her career, winning the 1500 in 2012 and the 200 IM in 2008.
Belmonte, 27, is still one of the best swimmers in the world. She is coming off a summer where she won the gold medal in the 200 fly and a silver in the 1500 and 400 IM at the World Championships in Hungary.
Belmonte also won’s Spain’s first ever Olympic gold medal in women’s swimming in 2016 when she won the 200 fly final in Brazil.
Karen Ferguson