Management of a Rectus Femoris Tear in an Elite Gymnast: A Case Report

BACKGROUND: Rectus femoris tears are common in field sports but rarely reported in gymnastics, where hip flexion, knee extension, and explosive landings impose high eccentric and concentric demands. CASE PRESENTATION: A female elite gymnast, twenty years of age, sustained acute anterior thigh pain during a deep squat landing. The clinical examination suggested a British Athletics grade 2a/3a rectus femoris tear, accompanied by a 31% quadriceps strength deficit, as measured by dynamometry. No imaging was performed. She underwent a six-session, criteria-based rehabilitation programme including progressive isometrics, strengthening, rate-of-force drills, and gymnastics-specific plyometrics, with staged reintroduction of apparatus. OUTCOME AND FOLLOW-UP: The gymnast returned to World Trials and completed training on Day 31. Objective measures improved markedly: left quadriceps peak force increased from 275 N to 503 N (82.9% improvement), and rate-of-force from 900 N/s to 1615 N/s (44.3% improvement). DISCUSSION: A structured, staged, sport-specific rehabilitation programme guided by objective criteria can enable safe and timely return to high-level gymnastics.