Germaine Mason (JAM) (© Getty Images)
Germaine Mason has been dealt a torrid blow and is likely to miss the Olympic Games after suffering a serious knee ligament injury.
The high-jumper suffered the problem on the way to winning a bronze medal at the World Indoor Championships in Budapest at the weekend.
He was seeking to better his leap of 2.27metres, and had the bar set at 2.32m, when the injury struck.
Team doctor Warren Blake said that Mason faced a lengthy spell on the sidelines, indicating that the Olympics, which take place in Athens during August, would come too soon.
"It is a severe injury,'' said Dr Blake. "It's a separation of the patella tendon, and in layman's term, it's the ligament that holds the kneecap to the bone in the leg, and it has pulled away from the knee cap.''
Mason who is the Pan-American Games champion would have been one of Jamaica's best hopes for a track and field medal in Athens.
"I would say that it would take six months to fully heal and three months to return to any sort of intensive training,'' added Dr Blake, according to the Jamaica Observer newspaper.
"So we're talking about a period of recovery in the region of three months before he starts serious training.''
Mason won one of five medals for Jamaica in Budapest, with the event capped off for the Caribbean island team by gold in the 4 x 400 metres men's relay.
