In the history of sports, animal attacks have been rare, but they have left few unlucky athletes injured or at the very least shaken up. From a sea otter to an antelope you wouldn’t believe these actually occurred. Here are four absolutely insane animal attacks on athletes during competitions and training.
Bethany Hamilton
Bethany Hamilton at sunrise in Hanalei Bay. Photo: Mike Coots
What happened to Bethany Hamilton in 2003 was one of the most gruesome animal attacks ever to happen to a professional athlete. Not only is Bethany still alive despite losing her left arm in a Tiger shark attack, but she’s become an icon within the surfing community ever since.
Ani Haas
In June of 2011 Ani Haas, a former member of the U.S. Ski Team, was mauled by a black bear while jogging the Crazy Canyon Trail in Montana. Ani mentioned that an animal attack had always been one of her biggest fears. According to Today.com, the black bear chased her down from behind and slashed her left arm and chest. Ani then turned around, punched the bear repeatedly in the head then proceeded to act calm after the bear became more aggressive. Eventually the bear lost interest and returned to her cubs. Luckily the animal spared Ani her life, but the attack left her with some gnarly battle scars and hell of a story.
Leah Prudhomme
A river otter? You’ve got to be kidding me. This must be the first otter attack on a human. Yes – it might be funny at first but the attack was actually more severe than ever expected. In August, 2012, Triathlete Leah Prudhomme was swimming in an island lake near Duluth, Minnesota when a seemingly cute sea otter began following her. After a short time it struck, biting through her wetsuit and leaving her with over 25 bites some even 2 inches deep. By the end of the attack, the bottom of her wetsuit was shredded and Leah was eventually helped onto the shore and rushed to the hospital.
Evan van der Spuy
This is definitely themost far fetched of the bunch. In 2011, Evan van der Spuy, a mountain biker for the South African National Team was literally tackled off of his bike during a competition at Albert Falls Dam in KwaZulu Natal. This was one seriously pissed off Antelope. Luckily, Evan was wearing a helmet which ended up being completely shattered from the incident. You absolutely have to see it this yourself.
