Soccer Star Wambach Breaks Leg, Will Miss Olympics

Team's hopes for a gold medal in trouble now
By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 17, 2008 6:01 PM CDT
Soccer Star Wambach Breaks Leg, Will Miss Olympics
Brazil's Tania, left, tries to stop Abby Wambach in the first half in Commerce City, Colo. Sunday, July 13, 2008. The US defeated Brazil 1-0, but Wambach broke her leg.   (AP Photo/Will Powers)

The US women's soccer team's hopes for a gold medal in Beijing took a devastating blow yesterday when star Abby Wambach broke her leg in an exhibition match. Wambach, the team's leading scorer, underwent a two-hour surgery today that went "perfectly, beautifully," her mother told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Wambach, though, will have to be a spectator for the Beijing Games.

“I was the one crying,” said Judy Wambach, whose daughter called her from the ambulance en route to a San Diego hospital. “She said, ‘Mom, don’t cry. This is my job. These things happen.’ And I’m telling her think positive (that the leg will be OK). She said, ‘Mom, I know my body. I broke my leg.’ But she wasn’t boo-hooing or any of that.” (More Abby Wambach stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X