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French gymnast Samir Ait Said looks ahead to 2020 after horrific injury

Devastated French gymnast Samir Ait Said bravely vowed to return from his horrifying broken leg and compete for gold at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

<p><span class="cutline js-caption" style="display: block; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px; background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.74902);">Samir Ait Said of France receives attention after falling while competing on the vault.</span><span class="credit" style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.74902);">(Photo: Scott Halleran, Getty Images)</span></p>

Devastated French gymnast Samir Ait Said bravely vowed to return from his horrifying broken leg and compete for gold at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Ait Said already has had surgery in Rio after his left leg crumpled grotesquely while landing a vault during the men’s qualifying competition on Saturday. He posted a video on Facebook from a local hospital.

Despite having suffered the same injury to his other leg ahead of London in 2012, the 26-year-old texted friends and multiple members of the French media before his surgery to insist the moment that earned him global sympathy would not end his career.

“He has been in contact to say that he will be back,” leading French gymnastic journalist Anouk Corge of L’Equipe told USA TODAY Sports. “He says he will be back stronger than ever for Tokyo in four years time.

“He said that even with what happened, he feels that 26 is to young for him personally to stop competing in gymnastics.”

Ait Said is an expert in the rings discipline, and won gold in that event at the 2013 European Championships, just over a year after snapping his right leg before London. Prior to his injury here, he had qualified for the rings individual competition.

Reports in the French media said the athlete had been “overwhelmed” by the messages of support he received from around the world, including Indiana Pacers star Paul George, who suffered a similar injury in 2012.

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