Huge crash in Olympic cycling ends Team GB medal hopes after 'head butt' crash yesterday
A massive crash during the men's cycling at the Olympics has ended Team GB's medal hopes at this year's games.
A horror accident happened during the men's keirin final in Paris this morning (11 August), and it saw British cyclist Jack Carlin crash out of a chance to win Team GB's final medal at the games.
The 30mph accident came on the final corner, and unfortunately, it wasn't the first such incident for Team GB in the sport this summer.
Ollie Wood suffered a crash on Saturday, while Neah Evans and Hamish Turnbull followed suit on Sunday morning before Carlin's attempt to win his third Olympic medal in Paris.
Advert
The first major crash involving Team GB happened on Saturday evening (10 August), when a nasty head butt took place during the 200-lap cycling madison event as cyclist Oliver Wood said he felt like a 'crash test dummy' after Dutch opponent Jan-Willem van Schip crashed into him.
The 28-year-old was ahead of van Schip with 39 laps to go, with the latter seemingly misjudging an overtake.
It cost Team GB a chance at a podium finish, though the Netherlands were later disqualified and fined £900.
After the race, Wood weighed in on the crash, saying: "Say what you want. I didn’t see anything. I have no clue, absolutely no clue.
"All I know is I got hit really hard from behind by literally the biggest rider on the track.
“I don’t know what I have done but my knee really hurts and my a*** really hurts.
"He hit me so hard. I felt like a crash test dummy.
"I am alright, I will survive. I will live to fight another day."
Jack Carlin then rounded off a less than ideal day for Team GB, as his crash took three out on the track during the final turn, as Dutchman Harrie Lavreysen came out with a gold medal, ahead of Australian cyclists Matthew Richardson and Matthew Glaetzer.
Carlin was on his back for a period of time, short of the finish line, moving his head as he was receiving medical treatment following the crash.
He appeared to be in discomfort before he thankfully got back up on his feet and made his way to the track centre.
As well as him, Malaysia's Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom and Japan's Shinji Nakano got taken out in the crash, and even though the former crossed the line, he was relegated for seemingly causing the accident.
Thankfully, all three walked away following treatment.
The horror crash means that Team GB's hopes of a final medal is over, as the Olympics comes to a close this afternoon following the women's basketball gold medal match between France and the US.
Team GB therefore finish the Paris Olympics with a medal tally of 14 gold medals, 22 silver medals, 29 bronze medals, and as it stands, in seventh place among Olympic nations.
Joshua Nair