Total Pro Sports - Prior to her routine at the 2009 World Championships in London, England, someone may have told Jessica Gil Ortiz that she needed to stand on her head in order to take home the gold medal.

Unfortunately, the 19-year-old Colombian may have heard "land on your head" rather than "stand on your head."  She would end up doing the first, and that would prove costly not only to her gold medal chances, but to the stability of her neck as well.

Moments into her floor routine, Jessica attempted to cap off a tumbling sequence with a challenging double front somersault, but that double quickly turned into a single-and-a-half, causing her to land on her head and out of the competition.  Laying curled up at the corner of the mat, her coaches and the paramedics rushed to check up on Jessica.  She would leave the O2 arena strapped on to a stretcher wearing a neck brace, but reports from the hospital indicated that the injury suffered was not too serious.

We have seen similar landings occur in football following a hit, but the sexy uniforms worn by gymnasts just don't seem to provide the same type of protection as a helmet tends to offer.

Injury to Jessica Gil Ortiz dampens celebrations over Beth Tweddle's gold - [Guardian]