Asian Games
Technical official stable after being hit by hammer throw
There was a dangerous accident in Hangzhou when a hammer slipped out of an athlete's hands during the Asian Games hammer throw final.
Kuwait's Ali Zankawi in action at the Asian Games (AFP)
An accidental mis-throw during the men's hammer throw final at the Asian Games in Hangzhou led to a serious injury to a technical official who was sitting near the throwing area. The official, 62-year-old Huang Qinhua, is now in stable condition, Games spokesman Xu Deqing told a news conference on Sunday.
The official suffered a broken leg after Kuwait's Ali Zankawi's hammer slipped out of his hands before bouncing on the ground, hitting the netting, bouncing off the ground and ricocheting into the official.
"He arrived at the hospital at 20:15, where was diagnosed with a right open tibiofibular fracture," Games spokesman Xu Deqing told a news conference on Sunday. "Currently his vital signs are stable."
The hammer, a 7.26-kg metal ball, was not stopped by the netting, which is designed to hang relatively loosely to prevent hammer balls and discuses from bouncing back at the athletes after misthrows.
Zankawi, a silver medallist at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, told AFP, “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. Thank god the hammer hit the ground before it hit his leg."
