Decathlon champion Sebrle barely avoids death by javelin
Posted January 24th, 2007 at 5:43 PM by Lisa Cieplechowicz
Section: News & Results, Olympics
Olympic decathlon champion Roman Sebrle is feeling lucky to be alive.
During a training accident in South Africa on Saturday, he only narrowly escaped death when a javelin plunged into his shoulder.
Completely immersed in his own training, and oblivious to the javelin throwers practicing nearby, Sebrle crossed the practice field without thinking twice. He recalls:
“Suddenly there were screams. Before I could react, I was hit. I looked at my shoulder and saw a javelin stuck in it. I was in shock … If the javelin had hit me 10cm to the left, it would have punctured my lung, 20cm higher the throat, which would have been the worst case scenario. Just 1cm higher and it would have hit bone, muscle and tendon and that would have been the end of my sporting career.”
Thankfully, the wound was only 12cm deep, did not penetrate any muscles and and required 11 stitches. Sebrle’s spokesman David Travnicek confirmed:
“At first the wound seemed quite serious but a further examination found that the javelin went between the skin and a muscle without leaving a nasty wound.”
Although Sebrle is currently resting in Potchefstroom and will miss February’s Tallinn meeting, he remains focused on his training. Travnicek commented:
“We will continue to prepare for the European indoors (from March 2-4 in Birmingham, England).”
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Tags: decathlon, injury, javelin, Roman Sebrle
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The Final Sprint
Nice story. It’s amazing how people can get so focused they could get injured like this.
Although, the headline is a bit mis-leading. If he “nearly escaped death” doesn’t that mean he died? :)
January 25th, 2007 at 4:04 pmThanks Perry - I agree. You also make a valid point about the (now former) title. I appreciate you bringing it to my attention. I look forward to our interview on Sunday.
Attention readers: In case you weren’t aware, Perry is quite a celebrity and has been covered by Runner’s World and many other publications for his unique (and impressive) marathon running talents. Take a look at his site to learn more about his life as an “Endurance Joggler”.
January 25th, 2007 at 6:55 pm[…] In fact, only one man has ever scored over 9,000 points in the decathon - Roman Šebrle of the Czech Republic. […]
July 15th, 2008 at 1:37 pm