An Asian Games athletics official in Hangzhou broke his leg on Sep. 30 after being hit by a hammer thrown by a Kuwaiti athlete during competition.
The competitor, Ali Zankawi, had aborted his attempt on Saturday evening, with his hammer hitting the protective netting and breaching it.
The official, Huang Qinghua, 62, was sitting on a chair outside the throwing circle at that time.
The 7kg metal ball slammed into the technical official's right leg after going through the netting.
How painful it is. 😖😖
— Qins (@HuangheHangshan) October 1, 2023
On Sep 30th, an accident occurred during the men's hammer throw competition at the Hangzhou #AsianGames. A Kuwaiti player made a mistake while throwing the hammer, which hit a referee's leg. The referee was subsequently rushed to the hospital. pic.twitter.com/N2vd8oN3Vt
Huang was seen in a state of shock and in agony, as blood poured from his shin and seeped into his trousers.
Zankawi rushed over to help Huang.
The official was carried out of the arena on a stretcher and got emergency treatment on site.
He was then taken to hospital for surgery.
It was reported that Huang suffered a fractured tibiofibular joint.
Zankawi, a silver medallist at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, told AFP he visited Huang in his hospital bed on Sunday and apologised.
Huang accepted the apology.
via Ali Zankawi
According to AFP, the 39-year-old said: "I raised my head and discovered that the hammer had bounced from the ground to the official's leg, so I quickly ran to him and tried to help him, especially since he was in a state of shock and writhing in pain."
He added: "After I got to him, I discovered a slit in his trousers and saw blood pouring from the leg, and I knew it was broken."
The athlete then tied the wound tightly to stop the bleeding until the ambulance arrived.
He helped the injured official onto an ambulance stretcher headed for the hospital.
Zankawi, who finished eighth behind Chinese winner Wang Qi, was shaken by the incident.
However, he said it could have been far worse.
"Thank god the hammer hit the ground before it hit his leg," he said.
Top photos via