English cyclist Matt Walls was on Sunday involved in a horror crash at the Commonwealth Games when he was catapulted over the barriers and into the crowds at the Lee Valley VeloPark.
The Olympic omnium champion, competing in the men’s 15km scratch qualifiers at the London venue, received treatment for more than 40 minutes before being taken away by ambulance.
Spectators were also hurt after Walls and his bike came over the top of the barriers on the high banking of a corner.
Photo: AP
Two other riders — the Isle of Man’s Matt Bostock and Canada’s Derek Gee — were also taken to hospital, while two spectators were treated for minor injuries at the velodrome.
“Following medical treatment in hospital, Matt Walls has been discharged with stitches in his forehead, scrapes and bruises, but thankfully no major injuries,” Team England said in a statement.
The Isle of Man team said Bostock had a computerized tomography scan from which the initial prognosis was positive.
Witnesses said that because of the gradient of the banking, spectators in the front row had been unsighted for the crash.
One man received treatment for cuts to his arm, while a young girl also received medical attention.
Walls had been trying to avoid riders who had fallen. The stricken pair of New Zealand’s George Jackson and Australia’s Josh Duffy slid up the banking, forcing Walls up on to the barrier and then over it.
Gee also surfed the top of the barrier, and managed to avoid following Walls into the stands, but fell heavily.
A Birmingham 2022 spokesman said in a statement that three cyclists and two spectators had been treated by the on-site medical team.
“The three cyclists have been taken to hospital. The two spectators did not require hospital treatment,” the statement added.
Canadian Mathias Guillemette was disqualified from the race for causing the initial crash and the rest of the morning session was canceled.
British five-time Olympic gold medalist Laura Kenny, who is competing for England at the Commonwealths, called for bigger barriers or screens to be fitted in velodromes to improve safety.
Kenny, speaking a day after England’s Joe Truman was knocked unconscious in a crash, fears the sport is growing more dangerous.
“I think the crashes are getting worse and it’s because the speeds are getting higher, the positions [on the bike] are getting more extreme,” she said.
“Some of the pursuit positions people are getting in, you see people crashing into the back of people,” she said. “At some point the UCI are going to have to put a cap on these positions. Maybe there should be screens because Matt should not have been able to go over the top and into the crowd — that’s pretty damn dangerous.”
Taiwan’s participation in the Olympic Games has been a story of politics as much as sports, with the name it has competed under since 1984 — Chinese Taipei — drawing as much attention as its athletes. However, with the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad set to begin in Paris on Friday, the exploits of Taiwan’s athletes past and present who have won 36 medals since the country’s debut in Melbourne in 1956 deserve a nod. Many of Taiwan’s medal winners have gained considerable name recognition, but only two have achieved legendary status — Maysang Kalimud and Chi Cheng, the only medal winners
Shohei Ohtani on Sunday hit a 473-foot (144m) home run as the Los Angeles Dodgers went deep six times in a 9-6 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernandez, Gavin Lux, Austin Barnes and Jason Heyward also connected as Los Angeles swept the three-game series. “Going into the break, we weren’t playing good baseball, and then to come out fresh against a really good ball club and to play the way we did — the offense came to life,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said. It was the 25th time the Dodgers launched at least six homers in a game
Canada women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman on Wednesday said she would step away from the team’s opening game against New Zealand at the Paris Olympics in the wake of a drone scandal. New Zealand complained to the International Olympic Committee’s integrity unit after it said drones were flown over closed practice sessions earlier in the week. As of press time last night, Canada, the defending Olympic champions, were set to open the Paris Games against New Zealand in Saint-Etienne. In the fallout of the complaint, two staff members — assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi — were sent home, the
Conventional wisdom dictates that the average retirement age for elite female players in the intense and physically demanding sport of badminton is well under 30 years old. Five female shuttlers are set to turn that on its head when they make their fourth Olympic appearances at the Paris Games, a feat never accomplished before. Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying, 30, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon, 29, Belgium’s Lianne Tan, 33, and Hong Kong’s Tse Ying Suet and Canada’s Michelle Li, both 32, are to compete for Olympic glory at Porte de La Chapelle Arena from Saturday to Aug. 5. “These achievements get missed because they’re women,” said