Rio Olympics Gymnast Leaves With Severely Broken Leg; Bone Crushing Vault Landing Echoes In Arena
The Rio Summer Olympics have gotten off to a gruesome start, at least for the French gymnastics team.
On Saturday, August 6, French gymnast Samir Aït Saïd broke his left leg as he attempted a vault landing. The graphic injury, captured on the video below, occurred during the men’s qualification rounds. According to the Los Angeles Times, eyewitnesses were able to hear a cringe-inducing snap at the moment of impact. After being taken away on a stretcher by Olympic medical staff, it was later determined that he had broken both of his lower leg bones, the tibia and fibula.
“We will do more exams to see if it is just the bone,” French team leader Corrine Moustard-Callon said, according to USA Today.
The injury is particularly tragic for the 26-year-old Aït Saïd, who had previously been sidelined by a broken right tibia — incurred during another vault landing — just prior to the 2012 Summer Olympics. Aït Saïd had also earlier qualified to compete in the finals of the still rings event, considered his best event. Amidst the understandable grief, Aït Saïd’s teammates went on to fail to qualify for the team finals, placing last out of the 12 teams.
“It was very difficult, very emotional,” French teammate Cyril Tommasone said, according to USA Today. “It’s very hard for the French and for him. Very difficult.”
French federation officials are hopeful that Aït Saïd can bounce back once again by the 2020 Olympics. He is set to undergo surgery soon.