SHANGHAI, June 14: Chinese gymnast Wang Yan will likely be paralysed for life following a horrific fall from the uneven bars at the national championships, a key warm-up for next year’s Beijing Olympic Games, a newspaper reported on Thursday.

Wang fell from the bars headfirst during Sunday’s final in Shanghai, breaking her neck and losing consciousness. Doctors said she was fortunate to have survived at all given the severity of her injury, the Shanghai Daily reported.

“The patient could not react to stimulant under the chest bone, and both hands lost their capability to move,” Jia Lianshun, a bone specialist with the People’s Liberation Army medical corps, said.

Reports said gymnasts at the games had been eager to impress by significantly increasing the difficulty and potential danger of their routines in hopes of winning an Olympic berth.

Wang, whose age was given as 15 or 16, was second in the Chinese national all-around competition in 2005, and her Zhejiang provincial team took silver in the team competition last year. —AP