Athlete removes body part just so he can compete in the Olympics

An Australian hockey opted to remove part of his body in order to compete in the Paris Olympics.

At long last, the 2024 Olympics has finally kicked off today (26 July) and people around the world are tuning in to see their national team battle it out for gold.

Field hockey player, Matt Dawson, is representing the Australian men's team, nicknamed the Kookaburras.

Unfortunately for Dawson, he broke a finger on his right hand whilst training a few weeks back.

According to the athlete, the pain from his break was so bad that he passed out when he saw what had happened to his finger.

Aussie hockey star, Matt Dawson, amputated a body part so he could compete in the Olympics. (Tim Clayton - Corbis / Contributor / Getty Images)

He was later informed that it would have taken months for him to recover from the surgery to repair it, as per the BBC.

So, in order to speed the process along, the 30-year-old athlete opted to instead have the digit removed from the knuckle up.

Doing so means that he can participate in his third Olympics Games while taking on Argentina tomorrow (27 July) - just 16 days after the injury.

While his wife had cautioned him on doing anything 'rash', he says he made the 'informed' decision the same day.

Speaking on the Parlez Vous Hockey podcast, Dawson explained: "I'm definitely closer to the end of my career than the start and, who knows, this could be my last [Olympics], and if I felt that I could still perform at my best then that's what I was going to do.

Dawson removed part of his finger to play in tomorrow's match (27 July) against Argentina. (Tim Clayton - Corbis / Contributor / Getty Images)

"If taking the top of my finger was the price I had to pay, that's what I would do."

Dawson has already competed in two Olympics Games, having previously won a silver medal at the Tokyo Games in 2021.

Team captain, Aran Zalewski, has since shared his reaction to Dawson's decision, acknowledging that it definitely came as a shock but his team supported him.

"We didn't really know what to think, and then we heard that he went to the hospital and chopped his finger off, which was pretty interesting because I know people would give an arm and a leg and even a little bit of finger to be here sometimes," he said at a news conference in Paris.

"When you've spent a lifetime of choice and sacrifice to come and compete at the highest level, I think for him it was an easy decision."

Kookaburras coach, Colin Batch, also added: "Full marks to Matt. Obviously he’s really committed to playing in Paris.

"I'm not sure I would have done it, but he's done it, so great."