Post-Games surgery awaits Opals star Jackson
Posted
Updated
In constant pain: Lauren Jackson. (Getty Images: Streeter Lecka)
Opals superstar Lauren Jackson has revealed she is playing with the aid of pain-killing injections and will have ankle surgery after the Games.
The news comes as the Opals' other outstanding player, Penny Taylor, is icing an ankle injury she sustained in Australia's quarter-final win over the Czech Republic.
Taylor is hoping to regain fitness in time for Australia's semi-final against China tomorrow.
Jackson says she has been in constant pain, particularly when she takes off and lands.
"It just catches and it's difficult to ... get a groove," she said.
"I feel like I'm getting better each game and it's not really stopping me from playing - obviously I've been playing a lot of minutes."
Having won the world championships last year, the Opals are favourites for gold in Beijing and are one of Australia's few genuine gold medal chances left in the Games.
Jackson is the world's most valuable female basketballer and is due to head to the US to play for her WNBA Club, the Seattle Storm.
