Canada's Arthur Margelidon acknowledges the crowd while leaving the field of play after winning his men's -73kg bronze medal judo match over Brazil's Alex William Pombo Silva at the Pan Am Games in Mississauga, Ont., on July 12, 2015. Margelidon will miss the Olympic judo tournament in Rio de Janeiro with a broken radial bone.The the 22-year-old from Montreal had been named to the Canadian Olympic judo team to compete in the men's under-73-kilogram division. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Julio Cortez
July 27, 2016 - 10:31 AM
MONTREAL - Arthur Margelidon will miss the Olympic judo tournament in Rio de Janeiro with a broken radial bone.
The the 22-year-old from Montreal had been named to the Canadian Olympic judo team to compete in the men's under-73-kilogram division.
Judo Canada said in a release Wednesday that Margelidon was trying to throw an opponent during a training session when his arm got stuck.
"A broken bone was the only thing that could keep me from competing in the Olympic Games," Margelidon said in a statement. "If it was a ligament or another more common judo injury, I could bandage it up or take a cortisone shot before my matches. A broken bone is a rare thing to happen."
Canada head coach Nicolas Gill said that hopes that the injury was minor were quickly shattered.
"We knew it was bad even before the X-ray or the diagnosis," Gill said. "Arthur has some grieving to do now, and how he handles it will factor into his recovery. Injuries are part of the sport. In his case, there is no such thing as quick healing, so that makes the whole thing a bit more dramatic."
Even though he won't be competing, Margelidon is going to Brazil to watch the Games with his father, who had already booked plane tickets and a hotel room to see his son compete.
"I'll be right there in the bleachers watching the competition I should be a part of," he said. "I don't want a wrist injury to be the end of my career, and I will give it my all in the next four years."
News from © The Canadian Press, 2016