Tokyo (AFP)

Due to a bicep injury, Samir Aït Saïd remained at the foot of the Olympic podium he dreamed of on Monday in Tokyo, but the gymnast is not discouraged and promises to return to Paris in 2024.

The flag bearer of the France team during the opening ceremony wanted to win gold.

Appeared with a bandage, forced to have his arm massaged during the warm-up, he finished fourth, far behind the new Olympic champion, the Chinese Liu Yang.

“I injured my bicep (left arm). I honestly thought I wasn't going to hurt with the adrenaline. I stopped training for three days. As I warmed up to make my final, I saw that it was impossible, "he said, very disappointed.

But he refused to forfeit.

"I told him: + Go as far as possible before it breaks out +, it held I do not know how", told AFP his trainer Rodolphe Bouché.

The curse seems to continue for the 31-year-old gymnast, who suffered a double fracture in Rio in 2016 and was unable to compete in the London Games in 2012 due to an injury.

He doesn't see it like that.

- "Not cursed" -

"I am not cursed. I told you that I was going to come back to Tokyo and that I was going to slam my medal. I came back, I did not slam it, I am at the foot of the podium. Today, that's the place I deserve, that's how it is, "he explained, promising to" win in Paris ".

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"I did not do my + job +, my + job +, it was to bring back a medal", continued this athlete known for his steel mind.

This winter, he had already been injured, another bicep, and had to stop training for a few weeks.

After responding to the press, he went to the Olympic Village for an ultrasound.

He started the Olympics with a back somersault at the head of the French delegation during the opening ceremony.

In front of him, China's Liu Yang finished first handily first with 15.500 points, followed by another Chinese You Hao and 2016 Olympic champion, Greece's Elefthrios Petrounias.

“Samir, I have rarely seen a mind as determined as yours! You are a great champion. You gave the best of yourself with the means of the day. Twitter judo superstar Teddy Riner.

In the other finals on the evening's program, American supremacy was respected even in the absence of Simone Biles.

On the ground, Jade Carey succeeded the American queen of gymnastics who encouraged her in the stands.

She was ahead of the Italian Vanessa Ferrari, 30, who is participating in her fourth Olympic Games.

In the final of the vault, it was a newcomer on the international scene, the South Korean Shin Jeahwan, who was crowned Olympic champion.

© 2021 AFP