Retired Olympian Greg Rutherford said the injury which forced him to withdraw from the final of Dancing On Ice required a “slightly bigger operation than originally hoped”.
The 37-year-old said “I effectively gave myself a C-section” when he slid through the legs of professional skaters Brendyn Hatfield and Colin Grafton and tore his abdominal muscles.
Olympic long jumper Rutherford withdrew from the ITV skating show after injuring himself during rehearsals on March 10.
“Operation done. Recovery starts here,” Rutherford said, as he gave an update from his hospital bed.
“It was a slightly bigger op than originally hoped, but it’s all sorted.
“Surgeons really happy with his work and I’m excited to get fit again. But for the next few days I’m going to be very sore and doing a lot of nothing.”
Hours before his surgery, Rutherford appeared on Instagram stories telling his almost 200,000 followers about the “horribly painful” injury, nearly two weeks after the incident.
“I’ve been a bit busy and obviously just recovering from the initial injury before I have the surgery that I hadn’t actually got round to talking about it,” he said, as he walked in the woods with his dogs and partner Susie Verrill.
“Long story short, I leapt through the legs of Brendyn and Colin and managed to tear all of my abs as well as herniate. So I effectively gave myself a C-section.”
After pulling out of the final, soap star Ryan Thomas and his ice skating partner Amani Fancy went on to win the 2024 series after impressing the judges and viewers with a dramatic warrior-themed routine and their interpretation of Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean’s famous Bolero.
Thomas dedicated his winner’s speech to Rutherford, saying: “Listen Greg, if you’re watching this at home, this trophy is for you, mate.”
