A freshman sprinter on the University of Georgia track team was hospitalized after he was accidentally impaled by a javelin, the school said Wednesday.

Elija Godwin suffered a punctured and collapsed left lung when he backed into a javelin implanted in the ground while running backward sprints, according to a police report obtained by WXIA.

Medical workers sawed off a piece of the javelin that was sticking out of Godwin’s back, the station reported. He was transported to a nearby hospital where the rest of the javelin was surgically removed by doctors.

Godwin is in stable condition and is expected to make a full recovery, the university’s athletic department said in a statement Wednesday.

“We would like to express appreciation for all those who acted so quickly and efficiently in coming to the aid of Elija,” Georgia director of sports medicine Ron Coulson said in the statement

“Special thanks to our sports medicine staff, UGA Police Department, Athens-Clarke County Fire-Rescue, National EMS, and Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center.”