Three weeks after being battered at the ballot box, Barack Obama today received an unwelcome Thanksgiving present on the basketball court in the form of an elbow in the face.
The First Lip required 12 stitches and local anesthetic after a bruising encounter while Obama was playing a full-court game with friends and family at Fort McNair, an army base in Washington DC.
Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said in a statement:
After being inadvertently hit with an opposing player's elbow in the lip while playing basketball with friends and family, the President received 12 stitches today administered by the White House Medical Unit. They were done in the doctor's office located on the ground floor of the White House.
Updated: The owner of the errant elbow was later revealed to be Ray Decerega, director of programmes at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, who said the president "is both a tough competitor and a good sport", adding: "I'm sure he'll be back out on the court again soon."
As presidential sporting mishaps go, Obama's injury follows a long line that includes multiple falls and scrapes by George Bush while mountain biking, Jimmy Carter appearing to pass out during a road race, and Warren Harding receiving a paper cut from a new pack of cards during a poker session.
Obama could later be seen watching the delivery of the White House Christmas tree from an upper window of the East Wing while pressing what appeared to be an ice pack to his injured upper lip.
A keen basketball fan and enthusiastic player, Obama was prepared to brave the chilly weather in Washington today to play a series of games, taking advantage of the political lull during the Thanksgiving holiday season in the US.
In typically detailed fashion, the White House press corps pool report added: "The medical unit that treated Obama used a smaller filament than typically used, which increases the number of stitches but makes a tighter stitch and results in a smaller scar."
On a slow news day the event caused a bigger than usual stir – but the most bizarre response came from George Bush's former press secretary Ari Fleisher, who tweeted: "POTUS hurt playing hoops. Blames Chamber of Commerce."
