68HORROR CRASH LEFT ME SCARED TO RIDE!
Kenny’s admission after Walls goes over barrier into crowd
DAME Laura Kenny has demanded safety improvements in cycling after admitting she was scared to race following Matt Walls’ terrifying crash into the crowd.
Walls was sent flying over the velodrome railings in a near40mph collision during yesterday’s scratch race qualifying, which left the Olympic omnium champion hospitalised and two spectators injured, including a young girl.
Kenny watched the shocking incident involving her England team-mate from her nearby apartment, little more than three hours before she was due to compete in the points race.
And Britain’s greatest female Olympian (right) confessed she was left shaken by what she saw, leading her and fellow legend Sir Chris Hoy to call for ice hockey-style screens to be fitted at the top of cycling tracks.
‘It was horrendous and it was playing on my mind earlier,’ admitted Kenny after her somewhat disappointing 13th-placed finish.
‘I messaged (husband) Jason and said: “Woah, I’m not even sure I want to do this”. ‘Everything else is put into perspective when something like that happens and I’m just glad he was conscious straight away. ‘We all know it’s a dangerous sport — you need to be physically fit to put yourself at the front of it. But the crashes are getting worse because the speeds are getting faster. ‘I do think that the faster we go, the more dangerous the sport is becoming. ‘Maybe there should be screens because Matt should not have been able to go over the top and into a crowd. That’s pretty damned dangerous for him and the spectators. ‘That’s the third time that I’ve seen someone go over the top. Is the top a bit too dangerous now? ‘Matt was conscious straight away and joking with the paramedics, which is brilliant to hear. But if he had come down the slope, he would have done less damage — he would certainly have done less damage to the little girl.’
Walls catapulted over the barriers on the final lap of his heat after losing control attempting to avoid riders who had fallen in front of him.
The 24-year-old was treated in the stands for more than 40 minutes before being sent to hospital. A male fan was left covered in blood and was taken away by a wheelchair, while a young girl also required medical attention.
Amazingly, Walls avoided any serious injury and was later discharged with just ‘stitches in his forehead, scrapes and bruises’.
The Isle of Man’s Matt Bostock and Canadian Derek Gee also went to hospital for checks after being involved in the multi-rider pile-up.
Bostock’s initial prognosis was said to be ‘positive’, while Gee joked on Twitter that he ‘almost made the wall ride’ having also surfed the top of the barrier.
‘I hope the people in power look at this and think something really has to be done before something genuinely serious happens in the future,’ said British cycling great Hoy. ‘I think it’s preventable if you put a plexiglass screen around like they do in ice hockey.’
The Walls incident led to the rest of the morning session being abandoned. When racing resumed later, Kenny was well off the pace in the points race, as Scotland’s Neah Evans took silver and Welshwoman Eluned King won bronze.