Terrifying History on Instagram: "On July 13, 2007, during the IAAF Golden Gala in Rome’s Olympic Stadium, French long jumper Salim Sdiri became the victim of one of track and field’s most horrifying accidents. As Sdiri prepared for his event, Finnish javelin thrower Tero Pitkämäki’s errant throw veered wildly off-course during warm-ups. The 800-gram steel-tipped javelin rocketed across the field at 110 km/h before impaling Sdiri through his right side, its tip burying 10 centimeters into his to

The Whispers of History on Instagram: "In July 2007, at the Golden Gala athletics meet in Rome, a javelin throw went catastrophically wrong. During a live competition at the Stadio Olimpico, Finnish athlete Tero Pitkämäki slipped slightly on his run-up. The javelin veered off course—so far off that it struck Salim Sdiri, a French long jumper who was warming up nearby, roughly 80 feet from the throwing zone. The javelin pierced Sdiri’s side with force. It lacerated his liver and kidney and caused