Olympics hopeful has his Paris Games dream shattered by horror accident that broke his spine in three places

An Australian gymnast has seen his Olympics dream fall to pieces as a result of a horror training accident.

Blake Rutherford, 27, had secured his place in Australia's team for the Games and was training for a national championships in Brisbane before things took a turn for the worse. 

'Training, at this point in time, was going the best it probably has in 12 months, I was jumping through the roof, my skills were looking lovely, routines were going the way we wanted,' he told News Corp. 

'That night I was going for a skill that has a one and a half twist in the first somersault and then half a twist on the way out.

'I just got lost in the first one and a half twist, which never really happens for me, but I just got lost and kicked out where I normally would feel and just landed on my head.'

Rutherford suffered fractures to his C5 and C6 vertebrae, as well as compression to the disc between C6 and C7 in his neck. 

He was required to undergo an operation to remove the bulging disc in his spinal column, and had it replaced with a cage. 

'I just thought I'd done ligaments, so six weeks recovery I can still prepare for the games,' he said.

'I got up off the trampoline because I didn't think it was that bad, I walked to a mat and laid down and then things started to feel worse.

'It wasn't until I got my CT and they said I had fractures there was the initial 'this is it, this is the end' set in.'

He subsequently spent four days in hospital after his surgery and was discharged on May 6.

Despite seeing his Olympics dream collapse, Rutherford says he will be cheering on his teammates as they compete in Paris.

'There was a few tears, there were tears of happiness but disappointment,' he said.

'Coming from now knowing I made a spot I'm really proud, there's a lot of pride in that.

'I knew that if I had more preparation from nationals, the way things were going, I could have got named for the Olympics which has been my dream since I was 13.

'But then there was the emotion side where after two and a half years of hard work and endless hours, not just from me but the team behind me, that I can't fulfil that. But at least someone from our country gets to represent Australia … I'll make sure I pass on my support to the person who goes away and I'll sit and watch the trampoline events from home.'