Karapetyan had won a gold medal at the 2016 European Weightlifting Championships and was billed as a favorite to win gold at the Rio Olympics.
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He looked nearly certain to bring Armenia its first medal of the 2016 Summer Games but disaster struck when he appeared to dislocate his elbow as he attempted the clean and jerk.
Andranik Karapetyan suffers a horrific injury at the Rio Olympics.
The 20-year-old suffered the freak injury during his second attempt at trying to lift 195kg on Wednesday evening.
He screamed in pain as he tried to ditch the 429lb bar with his forearm dislocated and medics an Olympic officials rushed onto the platform to help him. The entire Riocentro Pavilion reportedly fell silent, with many in attedance unable to watch.
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Kazakhstan’s Nijat Rahimov ended up taking gold, with China’s Lu Xiaojun in second and Egypt’s Ihab Youssef in third. Warning: this clip is not for the faint of heart as it’s basically every weightlifting nightmare (actually, every nightmare period?) come true. French gymnast Samir Ait Said became one of the first casualties when he broke his leg while attempting to land a vault on the first day of competition.
