Friday, 10 August 2012

Shot Syrian boxer sits out Olympics in hospital (Reuters)

Syrian heavyweight boxer Nasser Al Shami poses at the Marien-hospital, where he is receiving treatment for his leg, in the west German city of Witten August 10, 2012. Al Shami, a bronze medallist in the heavyweight division at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, said he was injured during clashes between Syrian security forces and demonstrators protesting against Syria's President Bashar Al-Assad in his home country on July 4, 2011. He has been in Witten for treatments since the beginning of June, and Al Shami said he was told by doctors he will not be able to box professionally again due to the injury. REUTERS/Ina Fassbender

WITTEN, Germany (Reuters) - Syria's champion boxer Nasser al-Shami was halfway to qualifying for the London Olympics when he was injured by gunfire in the central city of Hama. Now he may never compete again. Al-Shami, who won a bronze medal in Athens in 2004, was shot in the leg by a stray bullet last year while driving his brother's wife to hospital as government troops began to close in, the charity that helped him get treatment said. A public figure who took part in anti-government demonstrations, al-Shami could not safely stay in the Hama hospital where authorities were looking for him. ...




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