JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A South African athletic director says assailants attacked a top national triathlete who was cycling to a training session and cut into his legs with a saw, causing severe injuries.

Director Dennis Jackson says he spoke to 27-year-old Mhlengi Gwala, who was undergoing surgery on Wednesday after the attack before dawn on Tuesday in the coastal city of Durban.

Jackson says the attackers pulled Gwala off his bicycle and sawed into his right leg, damaging muscle, nerves and bone. Jackson says the saw missed a main artery and that surgeons are confident they can save the leg.

Jackson, director of the elite athlete development program for KwaZulu-Natal province, says the attackers also started sawing into Gwala's left leg before stopping and fleeing.

The motive for the attack is unclear.