Thomas Bouhail (born 3 July 1986 in

Montfermeil Montfermeil () is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Montfermeil is famous as the location of Thénardiers' inn in ''Les Misérables''. It has made the headlines due to troubles in its soc ...

Seine-Saint-Denis () is a department of France located in the Grand Paris metropolis in the region. In French, it is often referred to colloquially as ' or ' ("ninety-three" or "nine three"), after its official administrative number, 93. Its prefecture is Bobigny ...

) is a French

gymnast Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...

of Algerian descent. He won a silver medal in vault at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. In December 2011, just a few months before the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, Bouhail suffered a fractured

tibia The tibia (; ), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the tibia); it connects ...

and fibula following a fall during a training session. Later it was revealed that the injury was more serious than it was first thought as it also affected his knee ligaments and the

sciatic nerve The sciatic nerve, also called the ischiadic nerve, is a large nerve in humans and other vertebrate animals which is the largest branch of the sacral plexus and runs alongside the hip joint and down the lower limb. It is the longest and widest si ...

, which led to complications and Bouhail had to undergo 15 operations in six weeks to have his leg saved. The surgical intervention was successful, however, it is unsure whether he can ever return to competitive gymnastics. Bouhail has personally announced the end of his gymnastics career and is now a gymnastics trainer.

References

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* 1986 births Living people People from Montfermeil French male artistic gymnasts Olympic gymnasts for France Gymnasts at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for France French sportspeople of Algerian descent Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Olympic medalists in gymnastics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games gold medalists for France Mediterranean Games silver medalists for France Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for France Competitors at the 2005 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 2009 Mediterranean Games Sportspeople from Seine-Saint-Denis Mediterranean Games medalists in gymnastics European champions in gymnastics {{France-artistic-gymnastics-bio-stub