Gymnast Tami Elliott Suffers Neck Injury

Tami Elliott, the Cal State Fullerton gymnast who is a four-time U.S. national team member and was the highest American finisher in the 1985 World University Games, sustained a possibly career-ending neck injury in a fall Wednesday during practice.

Elliott, 21, landed on her head after her hand slipped on the horse as she attempted a vault, sustaining a compression fracture of the sixth cervical vertebra, Dr. Philip McFarland said.

Elliott, who is from Newport News, Va., will wear a neck brace for three to four months and is out for the season. Doctors told her their preliminary diagnosis is that she will not need surgery.

Elliott said she does not know if she will compete again. She had wanted to enter the World University Games this summer and had considered training for the 1988 Olympic Games.