A 17-year-old French swimmer will have some serious rehab to do ahead of the Olympics after he celebrated a bit too much upon achieving qualification.
Rafael Fente-Damers qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics on Tuesday by finishing second in the 100m freestyle event at French trials. In response, he slapped the water in celebration, but injured his shoulder doing so and was in immediate pain.
Hello @FFLose ! Rafael Fente-Damers 🏊♂️, pépite de 18 ans, a composté son billet pour le 100 mètres nage libre aux JO (48"14 !), et par la même occasion… s'est déboité l'épaule. Oui oui. pic.twitter.com/Ux1feNMx51
— Ronan Caroff (@CaroffRonan) June 18, 2024
Fente-Damers was later pictured with his arm in a sling during the medal ceremony, and French newspaper L’Equipe reported that he had suffered a dislocated shoulder, via Reuters. It was unclear if he would recover in time for the Olympics, which start in roughly five weeks.
Fente-Damers is not the first person to suffer a celebration injury like this, but not many have done it at such a bad time. He does not have much of a period to recover fully at this point.
