English track cyclist knocked unconscious after sickening Commonwealth Games crash
England’s Joe Truman briefly lost consciousness before being taken in a wheelchair after a massive accident at the Lee Valley Velodrome on Saturday, the second day of the Commonwealth Games track cycling event.
World silver medalist sprinter Truman, 25, lost to Keirin after taking on Matthew Glatzer of Australia in the second round.
The crowd held their breath inside the velodrome as Truman slowed to show signs of movement. But he later managed to get up and was given an oxygen mask before being assisted in a wheelchair. After being taken to the Royal London Hospital, British Cycling confirmed that Truman’s left collar was fractured and bruised.
“He is resting now and we wish him well!” The organization added on Twitter.
The gold eventually went to Nicolas Paul of Trinidad and Tobago, with Scotland’s Jack Carlin of Truman’s GB teammate taking the silver.
English pair fined for protesting against medal U-turn
Earlier, para-cyclist Sophie Unwin and her pilot Georgia Holt were fined 200 Swiss francs (£173) on Friday for protesting their decision not to award a Commonwealth Games bronze medal in the tandem B sprint.
Unwin and pilot Georgia Holt finished third in the ‘bronze final’ and were initially listed as bronze medalists in both the official result sheet and the Commonwealth Games website. However, it later emerged that due to a late return to the event, the number of teams was reduced from five to four, with only gold and silver medals being awarded.
The pair initially protested by trying to pose behind the podium during the ceremony, wrapped in the flag of England, but were pushed forward by security officials. She then borrowed the bronze medal from England teammates Laura Kenny and Josie Knight – who were just third in the women’s team pursuit – and posed for photos on the podium.
Cycling’s world governing body UCI said the 200 Swiss franc fine, which was also issued to England cycling team manager Keith Reynolds, was for “failure to respect the organiser/organiser’s instructions”. Team England is understood to be discussing the series of the tournament with the Commonwealth Games Federation and want the medal decision to be reversed.
It is also understood that the issue was an agenda item in the CGF Board meeting yesterday [Sat],
A CGF spokesperson said: “In the small number of cases where there are fewer than five entries in a Commonwealth Games event, the CGF implements a medal allocation policy to maintain the integrity of the competition.
“Unfortunately, while athletes in the women’s tandem B sprint event were notified of this prior to the race, the scoreboard and result sheet incorrectly indicated that it was a bronze medal race. We were inadvertently blamed for the trouble.” Apologies to the athletes involved.”
