The leg break was blamed on an awkward landing after Samir completed two back flips during the vault.
Advertisement
Said’s father, persuaded to come out to Rio, watching his son compete for the first time in four years, witnessed the incident, which we shan’t detail here – you’ve, of course, seen the video by now.
‘The operation went very well and I can be back on my feet quite soon, relatively. Moustard-Callon did not provide details about the injury; she only said it was the tibia. I am going to support my friends now, because the competition is not over.
Said underwent surgery on Saturday night local time to fix the tibia he fractured while trying to land on vault.The image of his leg bent grotesquely shocked TV viewers around the world.
Samir Ait Said was born November 1,1989 is a French male artistic gymnast and part of the national team.
The 26-year-old, who competed at the 2015 World Championships in Glasgow, won gold on the rings at 2013’s European Championships and then silver in the same discipline in 2015.
In a scene that’s reminiscent of something out of a slapstick movie like Dumb & Dumber or The Naked Gun, Samir was strapped nice and tight on a gurney as he was being loaded into an ambulance to get his leg some much needed attention.
A U.S. Olympic gymnast, Chris Brooks, said he heard the sharp crack of Ait Said’s left leg. Brooks was at the other end of the floor getting ready for his turn on the high bar, in the third rotation.
“I’ve gotten into the spirit of things with my blue-white-red plaster, allez la France!” said Ait Said, showing his plastered foot in the French national colours.
“They managed to keep their act together after my fall”. That must have been really hard. In a video posted this morning on Facebook he vowed to return to competition for the Tokyo Games in 2020. They were real warriors.
“Thank you again. I love you”.
Advertisement
And for all of you, lots of kisses for all and believe me, the Tokyo 2020 adventure is still alive and as soon as I’m recovered, believe me, we’ll go back to training and we’ll go after those Olympics.
