Track cyclist says crashing into her teammate was ‘like showing up to school naked’
The U.K.'s Katie Archibald on the embarrassing mistake made during the team pursuit
Photo by:
Sirotti
British team pursuit cyclist Katie Archibald said crashing into her teammate at the Tokyo Olympics was so embarrassing it was like “turning up to school completely naked.”
The cyclist, who won gold in the event at the Rio Olympics, crashed into teammate Neah Evans after crossing the line in a heat against the U.S. team. Both cyclists went down.
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In an interview with Bradley Wiggins on Eurosport following the incident, Archibald said: “I think that’s going to be the last thing I think about on my deathbed.”
“I hit the deck and thought this is the worst that could possibly happen.”
Silver recovery
Despite being shaken from the incident, the British cyclist said that she couldn’t have crashed into a better person. “Neah was so understanding,” said Archibald, “and we went into the final with nothing to lose.”
In the end, her squad won silver in the event, finishing behind the German team’s world record time of 4:04.242.
The Canadian team narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing fourth behind the American team, but still managed to set a new Canadian record in the event.
A time of 4:09.249 (hit in the first round of the team pursuit) is now the new Canadian record. The men’s team pursuit squad, who stopped the clock at 3:46.769 in their first round match up with Germany, also set a new Canadian record.