Schlein breaks back: out for season

Just a day after progressing through to the semi-finals of the 2005 Junior Speedway World Championship, Australian Rory Schlein has suffered a season-ending broken back in a British Elite League encounter.

The 20-year-old tangled with Coventry teammate Morten Risager in a home match against Eastbourne on May 23, sliding head first into the fence and causing a gold ball-size "dent" in his vertebrae. With a very real risk that the vertebrae could crumble and sever the spinal cord, Schlein has been placed in a body frame, and will be transferred to a specialist spinal unit.

It's anticipated that the South Australian will be in traction for a number of months before he begins the slow road to recovery.

Schlien is a two-time Australian junior speedway champion, and also finished fourth in last year's corresponding world title. This year has seen him make a full-time move up to the Elite League, where he has been averaging a respectable 6.29 for Coventry.