South Korean weightlifter takes gold for worst Olympics injury as his elbow snaps back lifting 357lbs

By
Daily Mail Reporter

21:19 EST, 1 August 2012

|

02:19 EST, 2 August 2012

South Korean Olympic weightlifter Jaehyouk Sa was forced to abandon the competition today after his elbow snapped back while he was attempting a 162kg lift.

The reigning champion in the men’s 77kg category was taken to hospital after his second attempt at the snatch ended in disaster.

The 27-year-old successfully lifted 158kg (348.33 lbs) but tried to push it up to 162kg (357.15 lbs) the second time round.

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Injured: Jaehyouk Sa of South Korea fails to lift the weight in the men's 77kg event during the London 2012 Olympic Games Weightlifting competition on 01 August, 2012

Injured: Jaehyouk Sa of South Korea fails to lift the weight in the men’s 77kg event during the London 2012 Olympic Games Weightlifting competition on 01 August, 2012

Harmed: South Korea's Jaehyouk Sa injures was taken to hospital after he was injured during his second attempt at the snatch

Harmed: South Korea’s Jaehyouk Sa injures was taken to hospital after he was injured during his second attempt at the snatch

Painful: Sa Jae-hyouk of South Korea reacts after getting injured on a lift during the men's 77-kg weightlifting competition

Painful: Sa Jae-hyouk of South Korea reacts after getting injured on a lift during the men’s 77-kg weightlifting competition

But Sa encountered a problem halfway through the lift after he could not get out of the squatting position and his right arm buckled at the elbow.

In video footage of the incident, Sa can be seen falling to the floor and screaming out in pain. 

Officials rushed to his aid as he rolled around in agony and was he escorted from the ExCel venue. He reportedly suffered a dislocated elbow.

After Sa pulled out of the competition, China’s Lu Xiaojun smashed two world records in the most emphatic victory yet in the weightlifting competition.

On camera: In video footage of the incident, Jaehyouk can be seen falling to the floor and screaming out in pain

On camera: In video footage of the incident, Jaehyouk can be seen falling to the floor and screaming out in pain

Screaming in pain: The 27-year-old appeared to be in pain as he could not contain his screams

Screaming in pain: The 27-year-old appeared to be in pain as he could not contain his screams

Screaming in pain: The 27-year-old appeared to be in pain as he could not contain his screams

Problems: Sa could not get out of the squatting position and his right arm buckled at the elbow

Problems: Sa could not get out of the squatting position and his right arm buckled at the elbow

Problems: Sa could not get out of the squatting position and his right arm buckled at the elbow

Snatch: The 27-year-old successfully lifted 158kg (348.33 lbs) but tried to push it up to 162kg (357.15 lbs) the second time round

Snatch: The 27-year-old successfully lifted 158kg (348.33 lbs) but tried to push it up to 162kg (357.15 lbs) the second time round

Floored: Jaehyouk Sa remained on the floor in pain before he was helped out of the ExCel Centre

Floored: Jaehyouk Sa remained on the floor in pain before he was helped out of the ExCel Centre

Wincing: The 27-year-old can be seen wincing in pain before an official rushes to help him

Wincing: The 27-year-old can be seen wincing in pain before an official rushes to help him

Wincing: The 27-year-old can be seen wincing in pain before an official rushes to help him

Agony: Officials rushed to his aid to inspect his arm as he rolled around in agony

Agony: Officials rushed to his aid to inspect his arm as he rolled around in agony

Agony: Officials rushed to his aid to inspect his arm as he rolled around in agony

Pulls out: Jaehyouk Sa had to retire from the competition after he suffered a dislocated elbow

Pulls out: Jaehyouk Sa had to retire from the competition after he suffered a dislocated elbow

Emergency: Paramedics rushed to his aid but the damage was already done after the athlete's second attempt ended in disaster

Emergency: Paramedics rushed to his aid but the damage was already done after the athlete's second attempt ended in disaster

Emergency: Paramedics rushed to his aid but the damage was already done after the athlete’s second attempt ended in disaster

In tears: Sa Jaehyouk is helped by paramedics team after being wounded during the competition

In tears: Sa Jaehyouk is helped by paramedics team after being wounded during the competition

He lifted 175 kilograms in the snatch, beating his own world record by a kilogram.

The 28-year-old then took 204 kilograms in the second half of the competition, the clean and jerk, to finish with a total of 379 kilograms, also a world record.

His teammate compatriot Lu Haojie was a distant second, but he was still 11 kilograms ahead of bronze medalist Ivan Cambar Rodriguez of Cuba.

It was the fourth weightlifting gold in London for China. North Korea has three after Rim Jong Sim clinched the gold in the women’s 69-kilogram class earlier Wednesday.

Sa was the man who denied china its ninth weightlifting gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. 

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Ouch, poor guy. I dislocated my elbow at school gym club when I was younger. Had it popped back in under general anaesthetic, six weeks in plaster and weeks of physiotherapy afterwards. I remember the pain like it was yesterday, and it was over 30 years ago! It’s never been right since though, and sits at a funny angle and I suffer with arthritis in it.

Did the British NHS make him come back in six months for treatment?

It always amazes me when Canadians and British people remark how they never paid a dime for their health care. Of course, they don’t pay at Point of Sale. They pay in advance through their taxes.
– Judith Smith, Oakwood ======================= Not only do we pay in taxes, but we pay in all other areas of life too. Gas is cheaper in the USA, so is food, and various other products. Ultimately, the cost of living is much higher in Canada and Britain than it is in the USA. But the investment and advancement of healthcare is much greater in the USA, which has medical treatments that we do not have. This doesn’t apply to Canada, but in Britain, due to their socialized mindset, they also consequently end up with a large benefits system where people are handed luxurious houses and money to support their own bad choices in life all on taxpayers’ dime. People always rant about how things are worse in the USA (ie, shorter lifespan), but they don’t take into account the 300 million population.

I hope he’s ok!

@Judith Smith. Even accounting for the fact that many Britons have private health care and don’t need to avail themselves of the dreaded “socialized” (aaggghh) healthcare, the average health outcome per dollar investment in the United States is much worse than that of not just the United Kingdom but every other western nation. This is a fact and can be easily corroborated with some basic research. By the way, the US ranks 38th in life expectancy, the UK ranks 13th: this is in part due to the non-existent health care the average American receives, and the US is alone among western nations in not providing “socialized” (aaggghh) healthcare. The Americans have got it wrong yet again and, of course, refuse to admit it because they are deluded into believing that they are somehow special. They are not.

errr yes, he has been treated by the NHS and survived; you are almost as arogant as the Americans
– Rob, Tring, 2/8/2012 12:22
============================ Give us a quote from the article or elsewhere that he has been treated by the NHS publicly, and that he will be continued to be treated by the NHS in his ongoing recovering. We North Americans would rather be arrogant than ignorant, but then again, from the comments here by Britons blowing their own horns about the NHS while simultaneously insulting outside-nationalities from seeking treatment, it would seem that Britons are both ignorant AND arrogant.

you are almost as arogant as the Americans – Rob, Tring,
And you are definitely as smug, boring, insecure and effeminate as most of your countrymen.

Its good the medics weren’t G4s, they wouldn’t have been there to help

@ Mark P: Nothing further other than confirmation that he did dislocate the elbow. I’m sure he’ll compete again.

Flipping eck!

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