Salim Sdiri

Salim Sdiri
	Salim Sdiri in 2008.
Personal information
Born	26 October 1978 (age 46); Ajaccio, France
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	78 kg (172 lb)
Sport
Country	France
Sport	Athletics
Event	Long jump
Club	USM Montargis
Coached by	Danielle Desmier
Medal record
Mediterranean Games
European Indoor Championships
	Updated on 15 August 2012

Salim Sdiri (born 26 October 1978) is a French long jumper of Tunisian descent. His personal best is 8.42 metres, achieved in June 2009 at Pierre-Bénite, which is the current French national record. He is also the French national record holder for indoor long jump with an 8.27 m jump in 2006. He has jumped eight meters or more every season since 2002 and has a bronze medallion from the 2007 European Indoor Athletics Championships.

Career

Rome javelin accident

On Friday 13 July 2007, during the IAAF Golden League at Rome's Olimpico Stadium, Sdiri was hit in the scapula by a stray javelin thrown by the Finnish athlete Tero Pitkämäki. The javelin thrower slipped and threw the javelin towards the area where the jumpers were warming up.^[1]

Sdiri was rushed to a local hospital in Rome with non life-threatening injuries. The doctors believed, at the time, that the javelin had missed any vital organs by 4 centimetres. However, two days later, Sdiri was rushed back to the ER as the prognosis was incorrect. The javelin had actually torn a hole in his liver and torn and punctured the right kidney slightly. Sdiri responded to the many interviewers by saying:

The javelin touched the right kidney and there is a slight tear at the top of the kidney....the liver was also touched leaving a hole in it. The javelin penetrated over ten centimetres and not four as we initially thought.^[2]

Return to competition

After months of rehabilitation and questioning, he decided to prepare himself to return to competition for the Beijing Olympics in early 2008. However, he did not make the final round.^[3]

On 12 June 2009, Sdiri beat the former French record holder for long jump, Kader Klouchi (8.30 m in 1998) with an 8.43 m jump. Sdiri was selected to compete in the World Championships in Berlin in August 2009. He finished 6th, with an 8.07 m jump.

On 27 February 2012, in Paris-Bercy, Sdiri became the French champion in the indoor long jump by setting the best performance of the year worldwide with a jump of 8.24 m, just missing his French record by 3 centimetres. On 12 March 2012, he qualified for the finals in the long jump at the World Indoor Championships with a 7.94 m jump. He came second with an 8.01 m jump versus the 8.17 m jump of Fabrice Lapierre.

Achievements

Year	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Olympic Games			12th				21st				23rd
World Indoor Championships		7th		5th				6th		16th
European Athletics Championships	7th				10th				4th		12th
French Athletics Championships Outdoor			1st	1st	1st		1st	1st	1st	2nd	3rd
World Indoor Championships		7th							4th
European Indoor Athletics Championships						3rd
French Athletics Championships Indoor
IAAF World Cup				5th	5th

Mediterranean Games
- Sdiri holds the record for the games with an 8.29 m jump in 2009.

He is also the recipient of the trophy awarded to athletes that are selected for competition over 20 times internationally by the International Sports Federation in 2010.^[4]

References

^ Clarey, Christopher "Athlete Hit by Javelin Is Healthy, but Angry", The New York Times, 16 February 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
^ Javelin hit jumper's kidney, liver published in The Daily Telegraph 17 July 2007 Archived 22 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine
^ IAAF, 18 February 2008: Much joy as Sdiri returns to competition – French Indoor Champs, Day 3 Archived 17 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
^ Gaudin-Winer, Florian (4 December 2010). "Assemblée Générale de la FFA : 90 ans, ça se fête !" (in French). athle.com. Retrieved 6 December 2010.

External links

Salim Sdiri at World Athletics

[1] Clarey, Christopher "Athlete Hit by Javelin Is Healthy, but Angry", The New York Times, 16 February 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2018.

[2] Javelin hit jumper's kidney, liver published in The Daily Telegraph 17 July 2007 Archived 22 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine

[3] IAAF, 18 February 2008: Much joy as Sdiri returns to competition – French Indoor Champs, Day 3 Archived 17 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine

[4] Gaudin-Winer, Florian (4 December 2010). "Assemblée Générale de la FFA : 90 ans, ça se fête !" (in French). athle.com. Retrieved 6 December 2010.

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