After a series of impressive performances, including an all-around title at the City of Jesolo Trophy in Italy and floor gold at the FIG World Cup in Osijek, Croatia, 16-year-old Elena Colas was enjoying the best season of her young gymnastics career. With several achievements behind her, she was eager to carry that momentum into her first World Championships in Rotterdam. However, the competition did not go entirely as planned, as she finished sixth in the individual all-around final. Now, weeks after the championships, the French teenager has opened up about the problem that had affected her preparation and has forced her to take a break from gymnastics.

On November 1, Colas shared an update on her Instagram Story, revealing that she had been dealing with foot discomfort since returning to training in September. “Hello everyone, I’m giving you an update because, as most of you know, I’ve had some discomfort in my foot since I started training again in September. This meant my preparation for the World Championships wasn’t perfect, and I had to slightly reduce the intensity of my floor and vault movements,” she wrote.

She then revealed that further medical examinations after returning from Rotterdam had identified the problem.”The results came back, and it turns out I have a bone spur under my foot,” she said. The diagnosis means Colas will not be able to contribute as much as she would like in her club’s next two Top 12 matches. Although she did not announce how long she would be away from competition, she made it clear that her immediate priority was recovery.

However, the foot problem had started much earlier than her November announcement. According to a report by French newspaper L’Équipe, Colas suffered an accident during training in late August when she was struck by the uneven bars. The impact caused a large hematoma on her right foot. Although the bruise eventually healed, the pain continued to trouble her.

The injury also affected her participation at the French International competition in Paris on September 26 and 27. Colas was initially expected to compete on balance beam and uneven bars, but she suffered a fall during the balance beam warm-up and subsequently withdrew from the event. She also left vault and floor out of her programme because of the discomfort in her foot.

Despite the setback, she returned to compete on uneven bars the following day and delivered an impressive performance to win gold with a score of 14.300. Speaking after the competition, she offered an encouraging update about her condition, saying, “My foot is doing very well. I didn’t feel any major pain, so we made the decision to do it. No regrets about not doing the beam.”

At the time, however, the injury had already disrupted her preparation for the World Championships. In an interview with Dicodusport ahead of the Paris competition, Colas acknowledged that her training had been affected, although she hoped the event would help her regain her competitive rhythm.

Despite the ongoing discomfort, the 16-year-old travelled to Rotterdam for the World Championships, held from October 17 to 25. Making her senior World Championship debut, Colas delivered a strong qualification performance, scoring 55.032 points in the individual all-around to secure fourth place and a spot in the final. She also qualified third on uneven bars and seventh on balance beam. However, she finished 14th in floor exercise qualification and missed out on the final.

In the individual all-around final on October 23, Colas finished sixth with 54.666 points. She then came close to a World Championship medal, placing fourth in the uneven bars final with 14.533 points. She also finished fourth in the balance beam final with 14.100 points on October 25.  France, meanwhile, placed fourth in the women’s team final with 161.130 points.

Although Colas managed to compete in several finals at the World Championships despite her foot discomfort, the problem continued to trouble her even after she returned home from Rotterdam. Further medical examinations revealed a bone spur beneath her foot, forcing her to take a temporary break from competition and focus on recovery. But while she may have to step away from gymnastics for now, the setback has not taken away her biggest dream. To understand just how much this sport means to her, it is worth looking back at where her journey began.

From baby gym to the Olympic dream

Colas’s journey in gymnastics began when she was just 18 months old. She first took part in Baby Gym classes, and her love for the sport grew as she got older. She trained at Avoine-Beaumont Gymnastique in France, where her mother, Carole Boin, also worked as a coach. Her talent soon began to shine in national competitions. Colas won the French title in her age category for three consecutive years, finishing first among 11-year-olds in 2021, 12-year-olds in 2022, and 13-year-olds in 2023. But it was at the 2024 Junior European Championships in Rimini that she first made a name for herself on the international stage.

She won gold in the individual all-around and team events, claimed another gold on uneven bars and took bronze on vault. Colas carried that success into 2025 at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Osijek, where she enjoyed a remarkable competition, winning five gold medals in the all-around, team, mixed team, uneven bars and balance beam events. She also earned silver on floor. Later that year, she helped France make history by winning its first-ever women’s team title at the Junior World Championships in Manila

In 2026, Colas stepped up to senior competition and quickly showed that she could hold her own against some of the world’s best gymnasts. Now, although her recovery may temporarily keep her away from competition, her Olympic dream remains firmly in sight. Speaking about her ambition to compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, Colas said: “I’m approaching it calmly. I think I’ll take it one day at a time, one competition at a time. It won’t be easy every day, but let’s just say it’s a goal, and even a dream.”