Katy Marchant - very nasty accident

[W12GT]

It looks like a horrific accident and that she’s ‘lucky’ to get away with a broken arm, from the video that could easily have been a broken neck or death for either cyclist or the spectators.

The barrier was only installed in August this year - I’d say not fit for purpose of grown adults on full sized bikes.

Hopefully all involved will have a speedy recovery.

https://metro.co.uk/2024/12/08/katy-marchant-team-...

[Johno]

We were in the track centre at the bottom of the bend right below it. It was very concerning for everyone involved as you’d imagine, right decision to stop the racing.

Last time we’d been there we’d been in similar seats to those spectators. Really brings it home how fast they’re actually moving when it goes wrong.

My daughter is 11 and watching her seeing riders pass at 70kmph/40mph at the end of sprints is always astonishing, but when it goes wrong ….

[bigdom]

W12GT said:

It looks like a horrific accident and that she’s ‘lucky’ to get away with a broken arm, from the video that could easily have been a broken neck or death for either cyclist or the spectators.

The barrier was only installed in August this year - I’d say not fit for purpose of grown adults on full sized bikes.

Hopefully all involved will have a speedy recovery.

https://metro.co.uk/2024/12/08/katy-marchant-team-...

I was also there. 30 minutes post crash we were asked to leave quietly. At that point, Katy was still receiving treatment and we feared the worst.

In respect to the barrier, that's replacing a single rail following a similar crash at the 2022 Commonwealth games. The artcile below has photos of that crash, which was far less problematic than Saturdays

https://road.cc/content/news/katy-marchant-suffers...

"This £250,000 barrier project is the latest major investment by owners Lee Valley Regional Park Authority at the venue. The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) was consulted in the design process of the new barrier, which will enhance the spectator experience, solving historical problems of restricted sightlines in some trackside seats and improve rider and spectator safety. Spectators will experience better visibility through the transparent screen at lower levels than currently possible"

I was trackside on the pursuit line. When we arrived, we noticed it had been changed with the boards and the old rail removed. Our initial thoughts were why it didn't curve back slightly towards the track to stop riders riding up it. It seems 250k not well spent. The cleaning on the perspex was quite smeary, I assume trying not to scratch it.

[towser]

I saw a clip of that accident earlier on - it looks like cyclist on her inside just tries to shove her into the barrier and they both go over it. Was that reckless riding or is it just part of that type of race?

[outnumbered]

towser said:

I saw a clip of that accident earlier on - it looks like cyclist on her inside just tries to shove her into the barrier and they both go over it. Was that reckless riding or is it just part of that type of race?

I think either their bars got hooked somehow, or the woman underneath was just off balance, and had no way to recover, so momentum took them both up the track and then the barrier. Nothing particularly reckless that I noticed, the women are doing 40mph when flat out, so if something goes wrong there will always be a big crash.