Disturbing scene as Olympic champ crashes into crowd

An Olympic champion has been rushed to hospital after a sickening, high speed incident where two riders flipped into the crowd.

Olympic champion Katy Marchant was rushed to hospital after a sickening high speed crash where she flipped into the front row of the crowd.

The British track star is in a stable condition, but commentators feared the worst after she got tangled with a rival rider and fell over the safety barrier during the keirin race at the final round of the UCI Track Champions League in London on Sunday morning (AEDT).

Marchant, part of the women’s team sprint who stormed to gold in a new world record time at the Paris Olympics, collided with Germany’s Alessa-Catriona Propster during the heats, resulting in both riders — and their bikes — flying over the barriers into the crowd at high speed.

You can watch the ugly incident in the video player above.

Medics dashed in to treat Marchant, Propster and four fans caught up in the crash.

Marchant was taken to hospital and is understood to have fractured her forearm, The Sun reports.

The accident came when the 31-year-old and Propster collided during the first round of the keirin.

Marchant remained on the ground for half an hour, with her husband Rob alongside her all the time.

She was then carried out of the Lee Valley Velo Park before going to hospital.

Marchant was later said to be in a “stable condition”.

Katie Marchant was taken to hospital. Photo: Twitter, Eurosport.

TV viewers around the world watched in horror as the incident occurred, but the host broadcast service immediately cut away from the scene and no replays were shown.

The race was immediately stopped by officials.

The UCI confirmed a short time later that the rest of the events scheduled for later in the evening had been cancelled.

The governing body said in a statement: “We can confirm that following an incident during the Women’s Keirin races tonight, the rest of the UCI Track Champions League racing at Lee Valley VeloPark has been cancelled.”

A further statement, also shared by British cycling, added: “We can confirm that two riders and four spectators received medical treatment following an incident during tonight’s UCI Track Champions League event at Lee Valley VeloPark, in London.

Katie Marchant tussled with Alessa-Catriona Propster. Photo: Twitter, Eurosport.

“The incident took place during the Women’s Keirin race. The event medics responded immediately, with one rider transferred to the hospital.

“WBD Sports, British Cycling, Lee Valley VeloPark, and the Union Cycliste Internationale unanimously decided to suspend all further racing for the evening and want to extend their best wishes for a speedy recovery to both riders and all affected spectators.

“We also wish to thank the medical staff for their prompt response and ongoing support. We are working closely with all parties to review the incident before taking appropriate action.”

Propster, 23, came off better from the incident as she was able to walk away following 10 minutes of treatment.

Katie Marchant went over the barrier. Photo: Twitter, Eurosport.

The four injured spectators were also thought to have escaped with minor injuries and needed only treatment on the scene.

Eurosport returned to the velodrome some time after the crash for an update from trackside reporter Adam Blythe.

The ex-pro rider from Sheffield told viewers: “The good news is that the GB rider [Marchant] is okay.

“She has got a broken forearm, but seems to be in a stable condition.”

Marchant won Paris gold with Team GB’s women’s sprint team in August.

She’d started the year by becoming the first Brit woman ever to take the European crown in the 500m time trial.

Marchant was also involved in a high speed crash at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

She was wiped out by Laurine van Riessen of the Netherlands.

The Dutch rider was knocked unconscious after crashing into Marchant and was taken to hospital.

Originally published as Disturbing scene as Olympic champ crashes into crowd