TOKYO — In the final moments of preparation before Samir Ait Said was to vault at the 2016 Rio Olympics, the French gymnast said he tried to soak in the atmosphere and recognize what an accomplishment it was just being there.
After all, just four years prior, at the 2012 European Championships, he fractured his right tibia in three places after landing awkwardly on a vault. The injury kept him from competing at that summer’s Olympics, which he’d attend as a spectator.
Undeterred, Ait Said embarked on a long and painful recovery process to beat the odds and qualify for the 2016 Games.