U.S. Olympic gymnast Chris Brooks was at the other end of the floor getting ready for his turn on the high bar, in the third rotation, far away from the vault where the French gymnasts were competing.
“I saw him come off the table a little bit awkwardly and I kind of looked away from there,” Brooks said. “You just don’t want to see it.”
He was talking about French gymnast Samir Ait Said. What many in the arena saw was Ait Said breaking his lower left leg on his vault landing, a particularly gruesome injury to witness. It shocked the crowd on Saturday at the Rio Olympic Arena and the upbeat mood turned grim during the men’s qualification rounds.
Fans sitting closer to the vault area, and even from far away, said they could hear his leg snap.
Ait Said was later taken by stretcher off the floor, receiving a loud round of applause from the crowd. The veteran Ait Said, 26, was considered a legitimate medal contender on rings in Rio.
“This is a hard sport, getting harder,” said Yin Alvarez, the coach and stepfather of Danell Leyva, one of the U.S team members. “Not only gymnastics, any sport, things happen.”
Comments
Post a Comment