French gymnast on chasing elusive Olympic glory after gruesome injury: 'I want this medal'

PARIS — The raucous applause that greeted Samir Ait Said banished, once and for all, the gasps of horror he heard eight years ago.

The French gymnast, whose left leg snapped in a gruesome crash on vault at the Rio Olympics, was cheered loudly by his fellow citizens Saturday. When he was introduced. During his still rings routine. After he was finished. Again when he gave an enthusiastic pump of his fist.

And once more by a few enthusiastic fans who stuck around to watch him do interviews after the competition.

“When I came in (and) saw the public, it was impressive,” Ait Said said. “I had to calm myself and stay focused on my job.

“I was a bit afraid,” he said, laughing.

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If anyone is deserving of the adoration, however, it is Ait Said.

He missed the London Olympics after fracturing his right tibia in three places at the European championships a few months earlier. He was expected to be a serious contender for a medal on still rings in Rio, having won the world title on the event in 2013 and a silver in 2015.

On Ait Said’s vault landing during qualifying, however, his leg snapped, the sharp crack of the bone echoing through the arena. As Ait Said rolled over, clutching his leg just below the knee, his foot and the lower half of his shin dangled in the opposite direction of the rest of his leg.

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Three years later, Ait Said’s beloved father died of cancer. When the gymnast won bronze on still rings at the 2019 worlds, qualifying him for the Tokyo Games, he lifted the medal to the sky and promised to win an Olympic medal for him.

But Ait Said finished fourth, missing the bronze medal by 0.30 points.

“I want this medal,” he said. “I made (my father) a promise to have this medal.”

Nothing can ever erase what happened in Rio. Tokyo or London, either. But it would be fitting for him to finally have Olympic success in his home country, the cheers of his countrymen and women what echoes throughout the arena this time.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: French gymnast Samir Ait Said and his chase for elusive Olympic medal