Cyclist Finishes Race Despite World’s Largest Splinter Piercing His Leg

OK, so I have no way of knowing if that is indeed the world’s largest splinter, but just look at the size of that thing skewering this poor fella’s leg.  It’s ghastly.
The poor fella in question is Malaysian cyclist  Azizulhasni Awang, who after an horrific crash during the men’s Keirin final at the Track World Cup in England, ended up with a 9-inch chunk of the Siberian pine that makes up the Manchester Velodrome track firmly implanted through his left calf.
Amazingly the 23-year-old Awang climbed back up on to his bike to finish the race, placing third despite the fact that there was a huge chunk of wood stuck in a place where wood shouldn’t be found.  Immediately after finishing the race, Awang collapsed in what must have been an indescribable amount of pain.  The young cyclist was whisked away to hospital, unable to stay for his bronze medal presentation.

As if having a giant shard of pine stuck in your leg wasn’t bad enough, doctors chose not to remove the splinter right away, instead scanning Awang’s leg before deciding the best way to tackle the splinter removal, which should happen sometime today.  Knowing that most in-hospital pharmacies are stocked better than Charlie Sheen’s medicine cabinet, it’s safe to say that Awang probably spent a relatively pain-free night in hospital.
Azizulhasni Awang—third in the men’s Keirin final at the Track World Cup, but pound-for-pound the toughest cyclist around.