A Russian power lifter attempting to squat nearly 900 pounds on Thursday may have been up for the task, but his knees weren't.
Alexander Sedykh was performing an 882-pound lift during the 2020 World Raw Powerlifting Federation Championships when both of his knees snapped, according to WRPF officials. The veteran weightlifter was rushed to the hospital, where he had to undergo six hours of surgery to repair his broken joints. "The doctor said that they assembled my knees well, and the quads were sewn with a double stitch," Sedykh says. "My wife also wrote that my meniscus was torn and the tendons flew off. But they have already sewn them all."
Although the surgery is over, Sedykh says he's facing a long road to recovery. "Everything hurts, but we are holding on," he says. "What is the prognosis? To lie down for two months, not to move your legs. Then to re-learn to walk and recover."