06:14 am, Monday 29 June, 2009

QLD Workplace Health And Safety Authorities are investigating the death of a 19-year-old woman in a gymnastics training accident last week in north Queensland.

Michelle Maitland, a former Queensland state gymnastics champion, suffered fatal head injuries when she fell from a 2-foot-high (60cm) tumbling trampoline while competing in a gymnastics class.

She was admitted to Townsville General Hospital in a critical condition, but later died.

Gymnastics Queensland executive director Wayne Hill said he was not clear on the circumstances of the accident.

“I think she hit her head on a floor well away from the tumble track,” he said. “They’ve got matting around the tumble track and within all the requirements that we put down as the governing body — it was just something that was totally freakish.”

“As the sport’s governing body in Queensland, we impose stringent Safety Measures, of which Townsville Gymnastics has a good track record of adherence and governance,” he said.

“This was an unfortunate and extremely rare incident and we will cooperate fully with Workplace Health and Safety as part of its investigation.”

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