Parnov's Olympic pole vault dream in doubt

The Rio Olympic hopes of Australian pole vaulter Liz Parnov are in tatters after she suffered a serious fall at training on Friday.

Parnov was in tears after injuring her knee in the training mishap, with the 21-year-old rushed to hospital in an ambulance.

Although the extent of the injury isn't yet known, it appears serious enough to have ended her dreams of competing in Rio in less than four months' time.

Parnov was already facing an uphill battle to qualify for her second Olympics.

The West Australian would have needed to have at least equalled her personal best jump of 4.50m in order to win a berth at Rio.

But just last week she won the women's pole vault title at the national championships in Sydney with a leap of 4.30m, fuelling her confidence that a bigger jump wasn't far off.

Parnov made her Olympic debut at the 2012 Games in London, but bombed out in qualifying after failing to register a height.

National record holder Alana Boyd has already claimed one of the three spots on offer for the Rio Games, with Parnov, her older sister Vicky and Nina Kennedy in contention for the other two.

Vicky rushed to be by her sister's side after hearing news of the serious fall.

Their coach and father Alex Parnov was also on hand.

It's not the first time Liz Parnov has suffered a major injury scare.

She was forced on crutches for eight weeks last year after fracturing her tibia in a heavy fall in June.

Parnov said she blacked out immediately after that fall, and thought she had broken her back because she couldn't stand up once she regained consciousness.

Liz Parnov is the niece of 2000 Olympics pole vault silver medallist Tatiana Grigorieva.