TERROR AT THE TRACK

ROOKIES BLAMED FOR VELODROME CARNAGE

THIS is the freeze-frame that captured the moment the Commonwealth Games cycling velodrome descended into chaos.

There was an audible gasp of horror as English cyclist Matt Walls and his bike were flung over the rail and into the crowd.

The look of terror on the faces of those in the photo explains why.

Long-time cycling officials, athletes and fans had never seen anything like it. It followed incidents that have plagued the competition for days.

Walls, the Olympic gold medal winner for the omnium at Tokyo last year, ended up in the crowd. He was taken to hospital, but only after he was treated in the stands for 40 minutes. The Isle of Man’s Matt Bostock was stretchered out of the velodrome and taken to hospital, as was Canada’s Derek Gee, who hit the advertising hoardings and fell back to the track.

Multiple spectators were also injured when the 24-year-old’s bike flew into the stands. Cycling great Chris Boardman has blamed the gap in the ability of riders from a range of countries competing at the Commonwealth Games for the “almost unheard-of” carnage at the velodrome on Day 3.

Boardman, the 1992 Olympic gold medallist in the individual pursuit who is at the velodrome commentating for the BBC, told News Corp he had never witnessed anything like it.

“We’ve seen a bike in the crowd before, in fact it nearly hit us in commentary in Colombia probably about a decade ago,” Boardman said. “But to actually see someone leave the track is incredibly rare, the circumstances that amount for that to come together is almost unheard-of.”

The huge pile-up, which brought down eight riders, happened when Bostock and Bahamas rider Jamol Eastmond hit the boards.

In the previous heat, Stephen Alberto Belle of the Seychelles crashed early on in the race.

Boardman said the huge gap between riders’ abilities at the Commonwealth Games did need to be taken into account. “It was a pretty messy thing,” he said. “With a Commonwealth Games there is a pretty big mix of ability here and that is why there tends to be more timed events than mass starts.

“Yeah (it can be dangerous with the big difference in abilities) but that is also the beauty of it, it adds more depth and allows more people to take part in different events as well than the Olympic Games.

Australia’s Josh Duffy was caught up in the crash, but was able to get back on his bike and finish the race. He qualified for the final.