Samir Ait Said landed in an awkward manner after two well-done backward flips off the vault. It appears, in the video above, that the stretcher collapsed a little too early, sending one of the crew stumbling forward.
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A loud crack was heard around the gymnastics arena when Ait Said’s left leg snapped on his vault landing. The French delegation later confirmed he had suffered a double tibia and fibula fracture.
United States gymnast Danell Leyva, the 2012 Olympic all-around bronze medallist, said other gymnasts had told her not to look at Said’s broken leg.
Said was attempting his second vault when he crumpled.
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. “It’s getting risky”, said Hambuechen.
Video footage shows medics in red Rio Olympics jerseys placing Said into an ambulance when the stretcher appears to crash to the ground before leaving for a nearby hospital. “It’s always more, more difficulty, more risk, higher”. Everyone wants new records and stuff so it’s getting risky. I don’t like the system anymore. We don’t know what happened.
The 26-year-old had also competed in the World Artistic Gymnastic Championships in Glasgow last season before earning his place on his country’s Olympic team.
Rings specialist Ait Said, a former European champion, was France’s leading medal hope on the rings apparatus in Rio. Gymnasts are also given scores based on the difficulty of their routine.
Other Olympians struggled with the vault on Saturday, and U.S. Olympic coach Mark Williams said that it bucks more than expected.
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Just minutes before Ait Said’s injury, Germany’s Andreas Tobas injured his knee during the first tumbling pass of his floor exercise.
