Skye Blakely's Achilles injury sidelines her at U.S. Olympic gymnastics trials

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MINNEAPOLIS — Skye Blakely, a strong contender for the Paris gymnastics team, is out of the Olympic trials after injuring her Achilles during training.

USA Gymnastics made the announcement Thursday morning, a day before the women's competition begins. The injury occurred during podium training Wednesday.

"This is not the way I saw my Olympic trials going or how my season ends," Blakely wrote in an Instagram post Thursday afternoon. "I’m devastated and heartbroken but I believe everything happens for a reason. I was so close to reaching my dream but this injury was unavoidable. I had an amazing season that I am extremely grateful for."

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Blakely, 19, was on floor exercise, her final event of the day, when she landed a pass and immediately fell to the mat. She was sobbing as members of the Team USA medical staff lifted her off the mat and into a wheelchair, where she was wheeled off the floor. Moments after Blakely exited the arena, Chellsie Memmel, the technical lead on the U.S. women's high-performance team, approached her coaches and hugged them.

The injury is particularly devastating for Blakely, who also missed the Olympic trials three years ago after being injured during vault warmups before the first night of competition.

The five-member Olympic team will be announced Sunday, following two days of competition, and Blakely was considered a favorite to be on it. A member of the last two world championships teams, both of which won gold, she had improved her standing at the U.S. championships earlier this month. She finished second to Simone Biles, and her upgraded vault on the first night earned the only 15 of the entire competition besides those by Biles.

Blakely has not said if she plans to continue at the elite level. She is committed to Florida, where her sister Sloane competes.

"The plans we have for ourselves aren’t always the plans God has for us," she wrote on Instagram. "I’m going to keep my chin high and be proud of the statement I have made for myself these past couple years. I’ll be back."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Skye Blakely injury update at US gymnastics trials: What we know