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Outlook: From intensive care to the Olympic podium

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Picture: Keeth Smart at sabre semi-final at Beijing Olympic Games

14/07/2021 GMT

From intensive care to the Olympic podium

BBC World Service - Outlook, From intensive care to the Olympic podium

How fencer Keeth Smart won an Olympic medal months after being diagnosed with leukaemia

It was only four months before the Olympics when fencer Keeth Smart was diagnosed with leukaemia. How he managed to beat the disease and win an Olympic medal.

Keeth Smart is an all-time great in the US in the sport of fencing. He was the first American to be ranked the number one fencer in the world. But in 2004 he suffered a devastating defeat at the Olympics when he lost a medal by one point. So in 2008 he was determined to redeem his reputation. Months out from the games, he noticed that his gums and hands were bleeding. Keeth was rushed into intensive care and told he had a 50-percent chance of survival. How he beat leukaemia and ended up winning an Olympic medal. 

A short film has been made about Keeth's life called Stay Close. 

Picture: Keeth Smart at sabre semi-final at Beijing Olympic Games
Credit: OMAR TORRES/AFP/Getty Images

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