A French weightlifter suffered a shocking and devastating injury live on stage during the European Weightlifting Championships, when her left arm buckled and snapped in two places causing the barbell to knock her to the ground and then roll over her back.
Nayo Ketchanke, 31, suffered what may be career-ending injuries with her attempt to perform a clean snatch of 110kg (242 pounds) in the women’s 76kg (167-pound) category at the event in Batumi, Georgia, according to the New York Post.
Ketchanke had several times failed to hoist the 110kg bar, and her third attempt led to catastrophe.
The competitor was able to get the bar over the back of her head and was preparing to push the bar over her head to complete the lift when her left arm buckled at the elbow just as she was starting her push.
A video of the lift shows Ketchanke attempting to let the bar fall behind her but her left arm is unable to operate, and as she falls the barbell falls on top of her and then rolls over her back and head.
Watch: (Graphic)
Impactante lesión de Gaelle Nayo Ketchanke en el campeonato de Europa de halterofilia. Codo izquierdo. #Halterofilia pic.twitter.com/JCAqhtwtUQ
— Samuel Hernando (@SamuHernando) April 11, 2019
The live-stream quickly cut away from the stage, but other cameras in the arena picked up Ketchanke’s screaming in agony as EMTs rushed to come to her aid.
Ketchanke, who won a silver at last year’s European Championships in Romania, was carted off to a local hospital. According to sources, she suffered a dislocated elbow, and her arm snapped in two places.
In an Instagram post featuring a photo showing her arm in a cast all the way to her armpit, Ketchanke noted, “I’m coming out of these European Championships not in the best of ways… I received a lot of support messages that made me feel good and we are waiting for my return to France to do further tests.”
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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