As if he hadn’t been put through enough.
You’ve probably heard or seen about it already, but it’s hard to think of a worse leg break in the history of live sport than the one suffered by French Olympic gymnast Samir Ait Said on Saturday.
Said was vaulting during team preliminaries when his left leg snapped upon landing and hung in a horrifying fashion in front of a watching audience of millions.
If you can bear to watch it you can do so here, but be warned, it’s not for the squeamish.
Said, to his immense credit, somehow managed to remain extremely calm while he received immediate treatment, but his bad luck didn’t end there.
Footage has subsequently emerged of his stretcher being dropped to the ground by medics as it was being loaded into the back of an ambulance shortly after the incident.
https://twitter.com/arrietadavid1/status/762028715844960256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
It has also emerged that Said suffered a similar injury four years ago in the run-up to the London Olympics, except on that occasion, it was to his other leg.
“It was two months before London and it was the same thing, except to his other leg,” Anouk Corge, gymnastics correspondent with L’Equipe, told USA Today.
“It was on a vault, he landed, and the leg broke in the same way. It was terrible then and for it to happen again is traumatic.”
Here’s wishing him a very speedy recovery.
