Rio 2016 Olympics accidents: Dutch cyclist suffers ugly fall, medics drop French gymnast with broken leg
A lot of drama occurred over the weekend during the first few days of competition in the Rio 2016 Olympics, including accusations of drug cheating among swimmers. In a tough and competitive environment, besides verbal skirmishes, physical injuries are unavoidable such as the broken leg of a French male gymnast and spill of a Dutch female cyclist.
On the second day of the competition, male French gymnast Samir Ait Said broke his leg during vault exercises at the preliminaries. To worsen his pain, since Said’s face is captured in grimace, the ambulance crew that arrived to pick up the injured athlete dropped him on the floor, reports Mashable.
The incident happened as he was being brought out from the stadium. Notwithstanding the pain, Said managed to lift his arm to acknowledge the crowd that gave the injured gymnast standing ovation. He is recovering in a Brazilian hospital, but the 26-year-old gold medalist at the European Championships was forced to withdraw from the Summer Games.
The next day, Dutch cyclist Annemiek van Vleuten suffered a head-first crash at the women’s road race. New York Daily News reports that she skidded out on a descent on an apparently wet track and flipped over on her bike’s handlebars.
As a result of her spill, van Vleuten suffered a concussion and three cracks in her spine, although she was conscious when taken to the hospital. She is now in intensive care, reports NOS Sport. Although she had to withdraw from the competition, a fellow Dutch athlete, Anna van de Breggen won the gold medal.
Had van Vleuten not slipped, she was leading the race with 6.7 miles left to finish line. Her spill coincides with the first year anniversary of the biker’s accident in Italy during a training ride when she had three broken ribs, collapsed lung and broken collarbone.
VIDEO: Update: Gymnast Samir Ait Said dropped en route to ambulance
Source: USA Today
VIDEO: Annamiek van Vleuten suffers horrific crash in Olympics women’s reoad
Source: Cycling Today
