Ramblings' Journal lives...

August 13, 2008

Olympic-sized Ouch!

Hungarian weightlifter Janos Baranyai's first Olympic Games went horribly wrong Wednesday, when while trying to snatch 148 kg (326.3 pounds) in his third lift in the men's 77-kilogram division, when his elbow popped out of socket. Backward.

Baranyi collapsed to the floor, screaming in pain, as Hungarian coaches and officials rushed to his aid, the barbell forgotten. The athlete lay on the floor, his arm horribly twisted out of socket like a disjointed chicken wing.

He was carried off of the floor on a stretcher and rushed to a local hospital for treatment. There's been no word thus far as to how extensive the injuries are to Baranyi's arm. According to medical experts there, if the arm has simply come out of socket, without any damage to surrounding ligaments, bones or other tissue, he should be able to make a full recovery in fairly short order.

In the snatch, the bar is pulled overhead in one continuous motion as the lifter settles into a squat, then rises with arms extended. When Baranyi was injured, he had picked up the weight into the squat position.

I'm sure NBC will refrain from showing video of Baranyi's injury during the zillions of hours of coverage, and as nasty as it looks, I'd be shocked if they didn't hold off.