Jul 14, 2007, 10:29 GMT
Rome - Long jumper Salim Sdiri of France suffered only a minor wound on his side when he was hit by a javelin during Friday night's Golden League athletics meet, organizers said.
Sdiri sustained a three-centimetres wound but no internal injuries when hit in the freak accident by the javelin thrown by Tero Pitkamaki of Finland.
Officials said that Sdiri did not remember the incident because he went into shock. He was rushed to hospital where examinations revealed that he had a lucky escape.
Pitkamaki, the European championship silver medallist, said he felt 'very bad' about the incident.
'My only wish is that the long jumper is ok. And I hope that it was just a scratch. I rotated a bit too much to the left and it just went into the jumping area,' he said.
Italy's Andrew Howe, who went on to win the long jump, said the javelin just missed his head.
'It could have been me, it could have hit my head. Everybody freaked out,' he said.
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