Olympic gold medal winner, Hannah Mills, suffered a small brain bleed and broken nose after being hit in the face with a boom during training

Hannah Mills has revealed that she may need to wear a protective mask to compete in the J/70 World Championships in Italy.

The 29-year-old sailor was hit in the face with a boom during training in Sardinia.

Writing on her Facebook page, Hannah Mills stated: “Not quite the start we were looking for out in Sardinia for the J70 Worlds! A boom to the nose caused a fairly scary few hours in an Italian hospital with a whole heap of blood.”

“A fractured nose and a small brain bleed kept me in over night. Just waiting another CT scan result to hopefully get the all clear and get out of here!” added the Olympic gold medallist, who thanked fellow sailor, Sophie Ainsworth, for staying with her in hospital overnight.

J/70 sailor Hannah Mills holds an ice pack to her broken nose

Hannah Mills posted this picture to her Facebook page

Mills was eventually given the all clear by doctors to sail.

She told BBC Wales Sport that she may now have to wear a protective mask to compete.

“I have a hideous white face mask which I might have to wear depending on the conditions,” she said.

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“It’s not very pretty but the nose would not take another battering over the immediate couple of days,” added Hannah Mills.

“Everyone says with a bleeding nose you pinch it tight and tip your head back and I tried that. The blood was going down the back of my throat and trying to swallow it, I felt I was drowning in blood,” continued the sailor.

“That was scary and horrible you never quite know what happened. At the hospital I was lucky one of the girls in my boat spoke Italian and was able to translate.”

“There were a few things that would have been scary like the bleed on the brain. She was there to ensure I didn’t panic. With my broken nose I was so lucky it was a straight fracture so I still have a straight nose!” stated Hannah Mills, who won a gold in the 470 class in Rio last year with Saskia Clark, who has now retired.

Mills, who has now teamed up with Eilidh McIntyre, plans to defend her 470 title at Tokyo 2020.

The J/70 World Championships in Sardinia have not got off to the best of starts, with two days of racing called off because of too much wind.