Australia is leading a group of cycling nations calling for better safety measures to prevent a repeat of the horror crash at the Commonwealth Games on Sunday, when English rider Matt Walls was catapulted over the velodrome railings and into the crowd.
AusCycling performance director Jesse Korf, who is in Birmingham for the 2022 Games, said he was talking to some of his counterparts about presenting a “united front” to the governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI).
“You’re not going to get to a point where you’re going to eliminate accidents from bicycle racing,” he said. “But people walk over a railing, that’s a different story in my head.”
During the final lap of a qualifying series for the men’s scratch race at Lee Valley VeloPark on Sunday, Walls was involved in a crash with half a dozen riders. The Tokyo 2020 gold medalist lifted himself over the rail on his momentum and took off running towards the stunned onlookers. Walls received medical attention for nearly an hour before being taken to the hospital, but was later released with minor injuries.
Two other riders were also taken to hospital, while bystanders, including a young girl and a man covered in blood, were treated for injuries. The remainder of the morning session was cancelled.
“He’s not the first rider to go over a rail or the first track he’s been on,” Korf said. The performance director indicated that Australia and other nations intended to submit a proposal to the UCI on mandatory improvements to velodrome safety measures.
“We all feel that strongly from a safety perspective, consideration [is required] around increasing the heights of the railings or looking at a Plexiglas solution or something of that nature,” he said. “[We want to] make a push to have something like this considered, because it’s not the first time.
“The rules of ice hockey have been established so that there is a plexiglass wall to protect the athletes and spectators. So there is some precedent in other sports and it’s certainly worth having a conversation.”
On Sunday, British cyclist and five-time Olympic champion Laura Kenny urged the sport to do more to prevent such incidents. “I think the accidents are getting worse and it’s because the speeds are getting higher, the positions are getting more extreme,” he said.
“Maybe there should be screens because [Walls] He shouldn’t have been able to go over and into the crowd, that’s very dangerous.”
Track cycling at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics last year was also marred by a series of crashes, including a high-speed incident for the Australian team pursuit team after a freak break of handlebars and a collision between the Danish and British teams.
England’s Joe Truman (left) and Australia’s Matthew Glaetzer (right) remain on track after a crash in the Keirin on Saturday. Photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Korf suggested the sport needed to take more steps to protect runners. “Cycling is not too different from where Formula 1 was a decade, a decade and a half ago in terms of advances in equipment, technology, driver safety and welfare,” he said. “Steps are being made, but there is much more ground that can be covered and will certainly be covered in the coming years.”
Australia have suffered a series of setbacks in Birmingham. Two-time world sprint champion Matthew Glaetzer’s bid to defend his Commonwealth Games keirin crown was dashed on Saturday by a high-speed crash that left England’s Joe Truman in the hospital Tasmanian Josh Duffy was involved in the incident on Sunday but escaped with minor scratches.
AusCycling said: “Rider safety is at the heart of everything we do to train and prepare our riders for competition. “While we are making continuous improvements, these are incredibly powerful athletes who move at high speeds and sometimes accidents will happen.”
Despite these incidents, Korf insisted the team’s morale was high, helped by Australia’s seven gold medals already in the velodrome. “The team is doing really well on and off the boards,” he said. “In general, the atmosphere is very good.”