Gladiators’ Sabre gives health update on horror injury after crashing out of show with botched grapple
WEIGHTLIFTING champion Sabre has given fans an update on how she is doing after receiving an injury on the Gladiators.
The Scot, whose real name is Sheli McCoy, joined the BBC reboot of the 90s TV hit Gladiators with the aim of taking contestants down.
Fans fell in love with her fierce competitive attitude as she took on other athletes and tried to prevent them from completing the physical challenges they had to ace in order to win.
Unfortunately, one of the new games saw the Gladiator rushed to hospital after a wrestling match proved too much for her hamstring.
Sabre came up against firefighter Bronte Jones during a challenge known as The Edge.
Contestants had to traverse a network of narrow beams raised 8 metres above the arena floor as many times as possible in order to score points.
Meanwhile Gladiators would attempt to throw them off onto the mats below.
While pinning Bronte down and endeavouring to push her off a beam, Sabre sustained a serious hamstring injury.
Commentator Guy Mowbray noticed that something was wrong, narrating: “Now Sabre is taking a seat here. I wonder if the Gladiator might be injured. And there’s still plenty of time to go. 30 seconds. But that’s where the event is halted.”
The Gladiator later told the Metro: “My hamstring went pop. I gave it everything I had, so did the contender.
“It happens, we put ourselves in these combat situations and we’ve worked really hard over a long period of time, and I feel like it was just the position I was in, the power I was putting into my leg.
“As an athlete, I’m no stranger to injury, it’s because we’re pushing our limits to get to that next level, that doesn’t come without risk.”
Sabre ended up on crutches after the accident, and had to go through months of rehab before she was able to go back to her career as a weightlifter and personal trainer.
She opened up about the recovery process, adding: “Rehab went really well, I’ve had so much support from the physio in Gladiators, and a lot of people up here, professionals, have helped me, physios and chiropractors.
“I haven’t ventured into long distance running, I’m not quite there yet, but I’m doing shorter distances, taking plenty of time and listening to my body, and giving myself enough time, there’s no rush.”