07/16/2007
Athlete Speared by Javelin at Rome's Golden League Games
A javelin thrown by Finland's Tero Pitkamaki during practice at Rome's Golden League Games missed its intended target on Friday, spearing French long jumper Salim Sdiri in the back. Ouch.
Sridi collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. He was lucky, Reuters reports: " Despite the horrific images of the accident, Sdiri's wound was not as serious as first feared. The javelin pierced only three centimetres into his body. Doctors released him after inserting five stitches -- three external and two internal -- and ruling out possible complications."
Sdiri was released on Saturday but has since returned to the hospital after a blood clot developed at the site of the injury.
UPDATE: Injury more serious than previously thought.
Posted 10:10 AM EST by Andy Towle in Italy, Javelin, News, Rome, Sports | Permalink
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Wow, hope he's okay.
Posted by: Rob (lrdarystar) | Jul 16, 2007 10:20:28 AM
It's probably rather Sdiri that collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. God, how scary must that be !
Posted by: eustazio | Jul 16, 2007 10:57:19 AM
The photos are slightly homoerotic...
Posted by: Mike | Jul 16, 2007 12:00:15 PM
My cousin once saw this happen at a high school sporting event. I don't think the victim survived that one.
Posted by: anon (gmail.com) | Jul 16, 2007 12:00:19 PM
They should always take their pants off first, you know for circulation and stuff, especially when they look like that guy. YUM.
(kidding aside)
I hope he's okay.
Posted by: Bobby | Jul 16, 2007 12:33:18 PM
You always saw these kinds of things in old cartoons but you never expect to see it in real life.
What I can't understand is why the field isn't cleared to a certain distance for javelin throwers. In this day of steroids usage, they need to have people clear the field, PERIOD!
I hope that poor guy gets wel soon.
Posted by: soulbrotha | Jul 16, 2007 1:05:12 PM
You are going to think i'm picky but this time you spelt sridi instead of sdiri :)
I think that's a good occasion to cry out loud how great I think your site/blog is. It's complete and very interesting. And very gay.
Posted by: eustazio | Jul 16, 2007 3:56:50 PM
And that, gentlemen, is why I am thankful that I am a sissy who's not into sports!
Posted by: JT | Jul 16, 2007 4:24:02 PM