French Swimmer Dislocates Shoulder Celebrating Earning Spot In Olympics

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The 2024 Summer Olympics are nearly upon us, with about one month to go until the Games begin. French swimmer Rafael Fente-Damers earned a spot in the Olympics with a great qualifying race this week. 

However, he got a bit too excited when he saw his time and realized that he had made the Olympics at just 17 years old. Fente-Damers slapped the water in excitement, then quickly realized something had gone very wrong. 

French swimmer Rafael Fente-Damers earned a spot in the Olympics with a great qualifying race, but dislocated his shoulder while celebrating.

French swimmer Rafael Fente-Damers earned a spot in the Olympics with a great qualifying race, but dislocated his shoulder while celebrating.

(Stock Photo - Getty Images)

Indeed, he dislocated his left shoulder. You can see him in the background of the video below. He slaps the water, then quickly reaches for his shoulder in pain. The French swimmer was later taken to the hospital. 

His teammate then tries to high-five him as Fente-Damers is clearly yelling in pain and grabbing his shoulder. 

Talk about going from complete elation to pure horror. The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics are just about a month away and now the young French swimmer has until then to heal his shoulder. I'm no swimming expert, but shoulders seem pretty important. 

This reminded me of one of the craziest celebration injuries that I ever remember. Bill Gramatica, an Arizona Cardinals kicker, jumped in the air after making a field goal IN THE FIRST QUARTER and landed awkwardly, tearing his ACL. 

What's incredible about this, though, is that Gramatica remained in the game and managed to somehow convert another field goal and an extra point in the game, which the Cardinals lost 17-13 to the Giants. 

Another fun fact about the craziness of that game: although Gramatica remained in the game to handle field goals and extra points, he couldn't perform kickoffs because they required a longer run up and more pressure on his injured leg. 

So, who stepped up and handled kickoffs for the Cardinals in that December 2001 regular season game? None other than American war hero Pat Tillman. Six months after handling kickoff duties in that game, Tillman enlisted in the United States Army. 

Crazy, huh?

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Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to OutKick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named "Brady" because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.