A teenage Chinese gymnast who broke her neck at the national championships on Sunday is likely to be partially paralysed for life.

Wang Yan, 15, fell into a coma after landing head-first on the mat after catching her leg during the dismount from the uneven bars, fracturing her second and third vertebrae.

A doctor said she was lucky to be alive, adding it was encouraging that she had recovered some function in her right leg.

The stakes were high for Wang at the championships in Shanghai, because they were the first trial for the 2008 Olympics.

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