RIO DE JANEIRO _ Not so long ago, gymnast Samir Ait Said would have held a news conference after his leg surgery.
In this age of social media, the Frenchman delivered the message from his hospital bed and a video was posted on his personal Facebook page. Ait Said suffered a horrific injury in the men's qualifications rounds on Saturday, breaking his lower left leg.
Pictures and video of the gruesome-looking mishap _ which occurred on his vault landing _ immediately went viral. In the video, he thanked the fans for their support and encouragement and wished his French teammates good luck.
He posted it on Sunday morning _ adding he planned to stay in the sport _ and by the afternoon, it had more than 876,000 views and 2,669 comments.
U.S. Olympic basketball player Paul George of the Indiana Pacers also offered his support, via Twitter. George suffered a particularly horrific broken lower right leg during a national team scrimmage in 2014.
"I feel for you brother," George tweeted on Saturday. "You'll be in my prayers! You'll come back stronger than ever from this. Trust me I know! (Hashtag)GodBlessSamir
