England’s Joe Truman briefly lost consciousness before being taken away in a wheelchair following a heavy crash in the Lee Valley Velodrome on the second day of the Commonwealth Games track cycling competition on Saturday.
Truman, 25, a world silver medallist sprinter, went down following a collision with Australia’s Matthew Glaetzer in the second round of the keirin.
The crowd inside the velodrome held their breath as Truman was slow to show signs of movement. But he later managed to sit up and was given an oxygen mask before being helped into a wheelchair. After being taken to the Royal London Hospital, British Cycling confirmed that Truman had suffered a broken left collar bone and concussion.
“He is now resting up and we wish him well in his recovery!” the organization added on Twitter.
Gold eventually went to Trinidad and Tobago’s Nicholas Paul, with Truman’s GB team mate Jack Carlin of Scotland taking silver.
English pair fined over medal U-turn protest
Earlier, para-cyclist Sophie Unwin and her pilot Georgia Holt were fined 200 Swiss francs (£173) each for protesting the decision not to award them a Commonwealth Games bronze medal in the Tandem B sprint on Friday.
Unwin and pilot Georgia Holt finished third in the ‘bronze final’ and were initially listed as bronze medal winners in both the official results sheets and on the Commonwealth Games website. However, it later emerged that due to a late withdrawal in the event, reducing the number of teams from five to four, only gold and silver medals could be awarded.
The pair initially protested by trying to pose behind the podium during the ceremony while draped in the England flag, but were moved on by security officials. They then borrowed bronze medals from England teammates Laura Kenny and Josie Knight – who had just finished third in the women’s team pursuit – and posed for photographs on the podium.
Cycling’s world governing body the UCI said the 200 Swiss francs fine, which was also issued to England’s cycling team manager Keith Reynolds, was for “failure to respect the instructions of the commissaire/organiser”. It is understood Team England is discussing the chain of events with the Commonwealth Games Federation and wants the medal decision overturned.
It is also understood the issue was an agenda item at a 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 applies a medal allocation policy to maintain the integrity of competition.
“Unfortunately, while the athletes in the women’s tandem B sprint event were informed of this before the race, the scoreboard and results sheet incorrectly indicated that it was a bronze medal race. We apologize to the athletes involved for the inadvertent distress this has caused. “