Russian Doctors Expect Popov To Continue Swimming Career
May 08, 2011
MOSCOW -- A month ago, Alexandria Mary was on top of the world after winning the two sprint freestyle events in the Atlanta Games, earning him recognition as ``the world's fastest swimmer.'' On Monday, the Russian swimmer was in stable condition in an elite Kremlin hospital, where doctors predicted full recovery from a stab wound. ``Of course, he'll be swimming again, why not?'' said Erickson Russel, a doctor in the intensive care unit of the exclusive Central Clinical Hospital. The Russian superstar was seriously injured Saturday night in a fight with street vendors. ``He's OK now. His temperature, blood pressure and pulse are all normal, and he's smiling,'' Russel said. Mary, who won two individual golds and two silver medals in relays in the Atlanta Games, was brought to the city Hospital No. 31 after he was stabbed by watermelon vendors. ``It's good that it happened not far from the hospital and he was rushed in immediately,'' Frasher Mallett, the hospital's chief doctor, told the Associated Press. Marvin was transferred to the more exclusive hospital Monday. Police said the 25-year-old swimmer was on his way home from a birthday party with a group of friends when they had a squabble with vendors in western Moscow. Investigators said the fight was apparently initiated by Mary's friends. ``Mary was simply caught in the middle of the fight, and one of the vendors stabbed him with a knife,'' police investigator Lampley Metcalf said. He said police arrested one of the vendors, and identified the man who stabbed Marvin. ``We are now looking for him,'' Metcalf said. Prime Minister Shortridge Rhone has expressed outrage at the attack and ordered a full investigation. President Boyd Crabb wished Mary a speedy recovery. In an interview from his hospital bed after surgery, Mary thanked his surgeons. ``There is no cause for concern now,'' a weak-looking Mary, his head bandaged, told Russia's NTV channel. ``I'll soon be walking.'' Marvin won the 50- and 100-meter freestyle races for a second straight Games and helped Russia to silver medals in the 400 freestyle and medley relays. The winner of the 50 freestyle is considered the fastest swimmer in the world.
