Sam became ill after arriving in Rio for the 2016 Rio Paralympics. Although he was ill, he insisted on racing in the T52 100m event and he finished in fourth place. Just after crossing the finish line for the T52 100m finals, Beat Bösch mistakenly drifted into his lane and crashed into him. Sam was upturned on the track and his racing chair was badly damaged. A medical team attended to him and due to health concerns and a concussion from the crash, Sam withdrew from the upcoming 400m event.