‘Lucky’ escape for Jackson
Bruised and grazed, George Jackson peeled himself off the boards at the Lee Valley VeloPark after being caught up in a horror crash that saw a rider hurtle over the barriers into the crowd.
A few hours later, he returned to the track to help New Zealand team-mate Corbin Strong strike gold in the men’s 15km scratch race at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
The young Wellington rider was seen sporting bandages on his forearm in the final, brilliantly won by Strong after a bold escape with two other riders with 25 laps to go.
But Jackson said he counted himself lucky that he escaped with only minor injuries, allowing him to contest the final after narrowly avoiding the worst of one of the most frightening crashes ever seen in track cycling.
‘‘I was the lucky one out there,’’ Jackson told Sky Sport. ‘‘There were a few more boys who were much more banged up than me. I just put some bandages on and got back out there. The adrenaline was pumping, so you just go.’’
Three riders were rushed to hospital following the huge crash medallist at the Tokyo Olympics, during the final lap qualifying which wiped out half the field and injured spectators.
England’s Matt
Walls went flying over the barriers as he tried to avoid Jackson and another rider who went down on the approach to a corner and slid up the banking. One man in the crowd received treatment for cuts to his arm while a young girl also received minor attention.
‘‘I’ve somehow come away with no serious injures just a few stitches and pretty banged up,’’ Walls confirmed on social media yesterday.
The English rider said his thoughts were with the others who were injured, including the spectators. Canada’s Mathias Guillemette was disqualified for causing the initial crash.
‘‘I want to add best wishes to all the people who came down in that crash this morning,’’ Strong said after his winning performance.
‘‘It was definitely pretty scary and something that we don’t like to see. All the best to the riders and spectators that were affected by the crash.’’
Jackson recovered from an early mechanical issue in the final to help Strong claim the gold medal after the Southlander made it into the decisive three-man break along with Scotland’s John Archibald and Wales’ Will Roberts.
Jackson and Campbell Stewart sacrificed their own personal ambitions to help Strong once the leading trio had lapped the rest of the field with 10 laps to go.
Riding shotgun behind Stewart, Strong powered home over the final lap to claim New Zealand’s sixth gold medal in cycling – equalling the sport’s record haul from the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014.
Strong thanked Jackson and Stewart for their support after the race, saying either one of them could have won.
‘‘It’s phenomenal to have such strong team-mates out there. Campbell and George both rode unbelievable as well,’’ he said.
‘‘We went into this race knowing we have three cards to play. All three of us could win this race and we were very privileged to have that situation.