England cyclist Joe Truman was knocked unconscious following a horrific crash when riding at 45mph in the keirin, as his old housemate Jack Carlin went on to win a silver for Scotland.
Truman suffered a broken collarbone in the collision, with the 25-year-old sent flying on the final lap of the keirin semi-final after riding into Australian Matthew Glaetzer, who had tumbled to the deck in front of him.
Truman had nowhere to go when Glaetzer touched wheels with Carlin in the second round of the event, sending the Englishman flying straight over the top of the Aussie at 45mph before slamming into the hard flooring, the Daily Mail reports.
The 25-year-old initially laid motionless on the infield of the velodrome as medical staff rushed to his aid.
Upon regaining consciousness, the stricken rider was helped away in a wheelchair receiving oxygen and transferred to the hospital for treatment on his collarbone and head scans.
It is the latest setback for a rider who spent the last two years battling back problems, ruling him out of contention for the Tokyo Olympics.
Olympic cycling hero, Sir Chris Hoy, described the impact of the fall as ‘about as big as you can get in cycling.’
Truman was motionless as he slid down the bank, with the crowd falling silent and medics rushing to his aid. After an agonising wait, Truman finally sat up and received a huge cheer inside the velodrome.
Truman was given an oxygen mask and pushed away in a wheelchair before being driven to hospital.
Carlin, meanwhile, had managed to stay on his bike to qualify for the final, where he finished behind Nicholas Paul, a shock winner from Trinidad and Tobago.
“It’s not easy seeing your pal lying on the ground like that,” said Carlin, who won world silver with Truman in the team sprint in 2018. ‘There’s nothing worse than watching your mate crash.
“He’s a team-mate and I lived with him for a long time. Fortunately, he got up and is moving around, but he took a good hit to his head.
“Joe’s had many issues with injuries throughout his career, but he’s very strong-willed. I don’t know if I could have come back from the things that he’s come back from,” Carlin continued in reference to Truman’s back injury which ruined his Tokyo Olympics campaign.
“This is just another hiccup in the road for Joe… Hopefully it’s not too serious, he’ll be back on the bike again in a matter of weeks and he’s got a lot to aim for – (next year) we’ve the Nations Cup, the world championships in Glasgow and the Paris Olympics – he’s got time on his side and, knowing Joe, he will be back stronger than ever,” he said.
