Belgian decathlete Thomas Van der Plaetsen’s campaign for a first ever Olympics medal appears to have ended on its first day after the 30-year-old suffered injury while attempting to complete the long jump.
The incident occurred in just the second event of Tokyo 2020’s decathlon.
Van der Plaetsen started off on a good run-up heading to the jumping-off point, yet appeared to stumble at launch, causing him to fall on his side and face down in the sand pit.
First checked on by his trainers, he later left the Olympic Stadium with the aid of a wheelchair and his country’s flag covering his shoulders.
Van der Plaetsen finished 17th in the 100-meter dash prior to this and amassed 850 points with his time of 11.05 seconds.
Looking to improve his previous outing at the athletics spectacle, where he finished sixth at the 2016 Rio Olympics, he ended the 2019 European Indoor Championships in the same position and came in ninth in the 2019 World Championships.
Winning gold in the European Junior Championships and 2011 European U23 Championships, he looked capable of carrying on this form through to adulthood with top honors at the 2015 and 2016 European Championships, yet has slumped in the past few years.
But there is a good reason for this, as pointed out by some who took umbrage to those having a laugh at Van der Plaetsen’s expense.
After his “flawless execution” was mocked, a journalist called it a “p*ss poor take”.
“Belgium’s Thomas Van der Plaetsen survived cancer in 2015 and is representing his country in an Olympics, but sure poke fun at the athlete who no doubt suffered a horrible knee injury in this run.”
this guy has some arcs in his career. some years ago van der Plaetsen had an abnormal drug test which turned out to be how they found he had testicular cancer. he underwent surgery and chemotherapy and battled back from that so hopefully he’s OK after this too https://t.co/j3lpYm2ScT
— Senorita Ding Dong (@KaylaJ67) August 4, 2021
Indeed, reports are now circling that Van der Plaetsen “tore his hamstring and the ligaments in his right foot during the run up” and will now be “out for several months according to his medical staff”, which will indefinitely terminate his Tokyo 2020 Games.
