TOKYO (Reuters) – Australia forward Aron Baynes has been ruled out of the rest of the Tokyo Olympics after slipping in the bathroom and aggravating a neck injury, Team Australia officials said on Friday.
The Toronto Raptors 2.09m-tall player, who scored 14 points in just over 14 minutes in Australia’s 86-83 win over Italy on Wednesday, will need several weeks to recover and is currently being treated in a Tokyo hospital.
“He did suffer an injury during the match (against Italy) on court and then he had a slip in the bathroom and suffered more injury. As a precaution he was taken to hospital,” the Australian team doctor said.
Team Australia chief Ian Chesterman said it would take several weeks for Baynes to recover.
The 34-year-old’s injury is a big blow for Australia, top of their Group B in the Olympic tournament with two wins from two matches, and aiming to win a medal at the Games for the first time.
They next play Germany in their last group game.
The Australians are arguably the most successful outfit never to have won an Olympic Games medal, having finished fourth on four occasions. They were also fourth at the 2019 World Cup.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann)
