When one goes to the Olympics they expect to break a record, not a leg. On the first day of the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics, French gymnast, Samir Ait Said snapped his left leg in the most gruesome way imaginable. He was attempting a vault movement when the immense force of the landing caused his tibia and fibula to shatter. The sound of the bones breaking was heard throughout the stadium.
Samir Ait Said was born in Champigny-sur-Marne, France on November 1st, 1989, making him 26-years-old. He has been competing in international gymnastics competitions for years now, and surprisingly, this is not his first broken leg. During the 2012 European Championships, Samir was attempting the same vault movement, and upon impact, his right leg snapped.
There is an estimated 26,600 gymnastics related injuries that occur annually. The fact that the gymnastics injury rate rivals that of contact sports truly shows us how dangerous of a sport gymnastics is. It is absolutely heart-wrenching knowing that Samir has worked nearly his entire life to become an Olympian, and instead has to deal with a broken leg, which is arguably one of the work places to break a bone.
As far a prognosis for Samir, he is already walking around his floor at the hospital only days later. Samir's cast is colored like the French flag, showing us that he truly means it when he says he will be returning for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. After all, he has done it once before, so why can't he do it again?
Warning: GRAPHIC VIDEO
