Celebrating his 200-meters gold at the World Championships athletics event in Beijing Thursday night, Usain Bolt was doing the customary lap of honor, waving to fans and showing thanks for their enthusiastic support.
While most of the photographers were kept on the other side of the barrier, a lone TV cameraman on a Segway tracked Bolt from behind as he made his way around the stadium.
And then, in a horrifying moment that could potentially have ended the sprinter’s career, the cameraman lost control of his two-wheeled machine and smashed right into Bolt, sending the both of them, along with the Segway, crashing to the ground.
Taking a closer look at the incident, you can see the cameraman’s Segway ride up on the metal rail used by the automatic camera that runs alongside athletes in track events. From that moment it was obvious the cameraman was going down, however, Bolt’s close proximity to the media man meant he was going down, too. For a second it didn’t look good, with Bolt grimacing as he hobbled away. The cameraman, still laid out on the ground, somewhat sheepishly raised a hand of apology.
The popular athlete later showed reporters a nasty-looking cut and bruise on the back of his leg, though he insisted he was fine. As for the cameraman, we’ll be looking out for him today to see if he still has his job.
Segways may look easy to ride, but if you’re not aware of your surroundings, accidents can certainly happen. A former Segway boss learned this to his cost back in 2010 when he died after riding off a cliff in what was thought to have been a tragic accident.