Rio Olympics Weightlifter Who Broke Arm Update: What Happened To Armenian Athlete?
On Wednesday, Armenian weightlifter Andranik Karapetyan broke his arm during his second attempt to lift 429 pounds (195kg) at the Rio Olympics 2016. The 20-year-old was one of the favorites in the men's 169-pound category and a reigning European champion in the sport.
Karapetyan screamed in pain as his left arm hyperextended during the clean and jerk of his lift. Medical teams quickly rushed to his aid on stage and he was transported to a hospital. The front runner was forced to withdraw from the games, and Kazakhstan's Nijat Rahimov proceeded to win the gold medal. Early suggestions from The Daily Mail were that the Armenian athlete had suffered a dislocated elbow.
Obviously the injury was painful, and Karapetyan has a long road of rehabilitation ahead. Severe elbow hyperextension injuries often require surgery to repair damaged structures in the arm — including ligaments and/or tendons, according to the Hand and Wrist Institute. After surgery, the arm is immobilized for a period of time and then, finally, rehabilitation therapy is used to restore function to the elbow.
Additionally, athletes who sustain a major injury typically experience a strong psychological reaction, which could escalate to depression. These psychological symptoms in injured athletes can result from the significant loss of a physical outlet and a change in exercise schedule.
Karapetyan is not the only athlete who suffered a horrific injury this year at the Rio Olympic Games. French gymnast Samir Aït Saïd became one of the first casualties when he broke his leg while attempting to land a vault on the first day of competition. The following day, a high-speed crash during a road race left Dutch cyclist Annemiek van Vlueten with three fractured vertebrae and a concussion after she flipped over her bicycle handlebars.
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