Olympic team sprint champion Katy Marchant has suffered a broken arm and two dislocated fingers but is in “good spirits”, British Cycling says, after a shocking crash during Saturday night’s UCI Track Champions League in London, which saw her catapult over the barriers and into the crowd – in only the second event since 1.4m-high Perspex safety barriers were installed in the same venue in response to a similar horror crash at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Marchant, who won gold in Paris as part of Great Britain’s team sprint squad alongside Emma Finucane and Sophie Capewell, was taking part in the first round of the keirin during the grand final of the UCI Track Champions League at London’s Lee Valley Velodrome.
However, during the last lap of the race, the 31-year-old collided with Germany’s Alessa-Catriona Pröpster as they battled for space on a bend, sending the pair careening to the right towards the top of the banking, before they were catapulted over the barriers and into the crowd, Marchant landing headfirst into a row of fans.
Following the horror crash, four spectators received medical assistance for what was later revealed to be “minor” injuries, while Pröpster was able to walk away after ten minutes. According to one spectator involved in the crash, who posted on social media describing it as a “scary moment for us all”, the four injured fans were discharged from hospital in the early hours of Sunday morning.
(Simon Wilkinson/SWpix.com)
Marchant, however, remained on the floor, where she was accompanied by her husband Rob, receiving treatment for around half an hour before she was carried out of the velodrome and taken to hospital.
Racing was suspended as Marchant was being treated, and eventually called off completely, as spectators were told to leave the velodrome.
A statement from the event’s organisers said: “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 are working closely with all parties to review the incident before taking appropriate action.”
On Sunday morning, British Cycling confirmed that Marchant – who followed up her Olympic success with a maiden world team sprint title in Ballerup in October, again alongside Capewell and Finucane – had suffered two broken bones in her forearm in the crash, but was in “good spirits”.
“After receiving prompt medical attention from the track medical team, Katy was escorted to the hospital by the British Cycling doctor,” the governing body confirmed.
“X-rays revealed a fractured radius and ulna in her right forearm, as well as two dislocated fingers.
“Katy is in good spirits and is receiving excellent care from her medical team. We wish her a full and speedy recovery.”
Marchant (left) racing during the first round of the sprint during the Track Champions League grand final on Saturday, with the Perspex barriers visible in the background (Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)
Marchant’s shocking crash came just under three months after Lee Valley VeloPark installed a new 1.4m-high Perspex safety barrier around the London track following a similarly horrific incident at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, which saw Olympic omnium champion Mat Walls catapulted over the advertising barriers and into the crowd, leaving one spectator with a serious arm injury.
The £250,000 barrier, described by Lee Valley as a “UK-first”, was fitted in August as part of a series of improvements being made to the velodrome which hosted the 2012 Olympic Games and the 2022 Commonwealth Games, with Saturday’s races marking only the second time the perplex shields had been used in competition.
Their inability, however, to prevent Marchant’s crash has provoked some debate on social media, with one fan describing the new taller fences as a “an abject failure”.
“Now is perhaps too early to look at but there needs to be a full discussion as to why the new barriers fitted after Matt Walls’ crash in the 2022 Commonwealth Games completely failed in doing exactly what they were fitted to do,” cycling writer Tim Bonville-Ginn wrote on BlueSky.
“As far as I am concerned, it is an abject failure,” replied Richard. “Any engineer worth their salt should have taken pretty much any possible scenario into account. It should not have been possible. Unforgivable. Why didn’t they just make the Perspex barriers higher?”
“Having looked at before and after pictures, I can see they just removed the ‘old’ side boards and replaced them with slightly higher Perspex,” noted 2012 para-cycling pursuit world champion Colin Lynch. “I assumed the Perspex was in addition to the old boards. I can see why this happened as they barely added a foot of extra protection.”
“But it’s very hard with banking to come up with a system safe for both riders and spectators,” countered Martin. “Removing the first couple of rows of seats and replacing them with matting is a possibility. The Perspex screen just leads to heavier and arguably more dangerous falls for riders.”
(Alex Broadway/SWpix.com)
As noted above, the Perpsex screens were installed as a response to the nasty crash which took place during the qualifying round for the men’s scratch race at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, which prompted calls from Chris Hoy and Laura Kenny to improve safety measures at velodromes.
The devastating final-lap crash brought eight riders down and flung Team England rider Walls over the advertising hoardings and into the front two rows of the stands, where Hugh Colvin was sitting with two of his children, aged five and seven, and some family friends.
Groupama-FDJ pro Walls, who won the Olympic omnium title in Tokyo the year before, was treated for over 40 minutes inside the Lee Valley VeloPark before being taken to hospital, where it was confirmed that he had suffered no serious injuries. The Isle of Man’s Matt Bostock, who was carried away on a stretcher, and Canada’s Tour de France top-ten finisher Derek Gee were also treated in hospital for minor injuries.
(Will Palmer/SWpix.com)
While the Games’ organisers initially stated that two injured spectators – including the Colvins’ seven-year-old daughter – did not require hospital treatment, Hugh and his wife Laura later confirmed that a family friend, who was sitting beside the Colvins in the front row, was forced to undergo surgery for a serious arm injury which left him covered in blood, and which they described as akin to a “machete injury”.
> Sir Chris Hoy says safety screens could have prevented Matt Walls’ Commonwealth Games crash
Following the crash two years ago, Sir Chris Hoy argued that the dramatic incident was “the direct result of not having a barrier at the top of the fencing”.
“I think it’s preventable if they put a Perspex screen to protect the crowd. I’ve seen a shot of it and it was horrendous to watch,” the six-time Olympic gold medallist said. “Something has to be done before something genuinely serious happens.”
16 thoughts on ““Why did the barriers completely fail to do exactly what they were fitted for?” Horror crash into crowd sees Olympic champion Katy Marchant suffer broken arm – months after taller safety barriers fitted around track following similar crash”
I’m assuming handlebars got
I’m assuming handlebars got locked so neither rider could steer down & away, I’m not sure any velodrome is setup for that occurring.
I was stood with my kids
I was stood with my kids watching from the infield section – looking straight up the banking as the crash happened. The new Perspex wall looks overkill until you get a close-up impression of the kinetic energy that two track riders have at 70kph.
It was utterly visceral to witness, and I hope not to see such scenes again.
Perhaps the Perspex needs to curve back towards the track at the top to contain the energy of the riders and direct them back onto the track (although the drop back in from there would be terrifying), or nylon webbing like the ski race venues use.
Yes I was in the infield area
Yes I was in the infield area on Saturday evening too, and it was a shocking crash. Shame, because up until then there had been some great racing (although the sound system was inaudible from the infield area – maybe it was better in the seats around the perimeter?). It looked to me like their handlebars got tangled?
It was also great to see/hear the reception given to Sir Chris!
I’ve not seen the Champions
I’ve not seen the Champions League incident, but I remember watching the Commonwealth games.
What seemed significant to me at the time and ‘appears’ to have not been taken into account, is that with the banking being so steep, the transition to the vertical hoardings (and now replacement perspex) is too easily mountable.
Once mounted like a wall of death, the outcome is never going to be good. Either the hoardings are ‘too short’ and the rider over-tops as has now happened twice, or they continue up an indefinitely tall wall untill the corner ends and they fall whatever distance they’ve climbed back down onto the track.
Trying not to be an armchair engineer, (its hard when you are an engineer) but the perspex needs to be closer to perpendicular off the track surface, not vertical to the track centre.
ROOTminus1 wrote:
Agreed (and I’m not an engineer!). That just seems to make more sense, less like a slightly steeper-angled piece of ramp.
brooksby wrote:
Agreed (and I’m not an engineer!). That just seems to make more sense, less like a slightly steeper-angled piece of ramp.— ROOTminus1
Unfortunately most of the time that the riders are at the top of the track they are not perpendicular to the track surface so the barrier would interfere with the rider. It may be possible to bend it inward above head height but it raises the possibility of rebounding them towards the inside of the track where there is a consideable distance to fall.
I think this is the video of
I think this is the video of it, although I haven’t been able to verify. It looks terrifying.
https://www.instagram.com/dandoesfooty/reel/DDUDZEYPMcT/
It is.
It is.
I am a track coach and work
I am a track coach and work at Lee Valley regularly. By coincidence I was track centre when the commonwealth games crash occurred and sitting directly above the Katy Marchant crash on Saturday. I must admit I do not know what the solution to this problem is. Or at least a solution that protects riders and spectators and does not overly detract from the spectator and rider experience. There are some good comments below about the design of the barrier and the potential to have then canted at an angle to stop riders going over the top. With this solution there would still need to be a vertical element to stop riders hitting their heads on the barrier and I have concerns about the visual interference for both riders and spectators. The old barrier was a solid wall with a railing on top that also afforded the ability to mount advertising boards and in the case of the champions track league TV monitors. I believe that this is not possible with the new perspex barrier thus limiting advertising revenue. Another issue that has to be considered is the height of the barrier. I am not talking about the impact on safety but the need for riders to hold the top of the barrier when starting certain races. It is ok for adults but some of the smaller children that I coach are struggling to reach the top of the current perspex screen and that in itself is a safety issue. Maybe a simple net would work but that would not be good to look through. Lee Valley is not unique to this type of accident as they have occurred in other velodromes. Interestingly both accidents occurred within 10m of each other. That area of turn 1 and 2 is often used for accelerations.
I am no engineer but I wonder if the current higher barrier had and impact in slowing down the riders before they went over the top. At the commonwealth games the riders were travelling at higher speeds and once they had breached the barrier they were still moving forwards at speed. On Saturday most of that forward momentum was lost as the riders went over the top. The two may not be connected in any way but it was something I observed.
Engineering solutions are one
Engineering solutions are one way of preventing future tragedy; this could inovle angling the barrier in such a way that it is closer to perpendicular relative to the outer track, or moving the audience away from the event.
Another way is rules-based. If the rider faced penalties or disqaulification for leaving the track and mounting the barrier, we may find that the incident occurs less frequently. At the moment the only risks are to life and limb – and we know from sports in general that profesionals are more than willing to take risk in order to secure a win.
Your first point has been
Your first point has been mooted a few times already, your 2nd point is one hell of a bad take. No rider is mounting the barrier as a conscious decision.
The only focus of the rider
The only focus of the rider is on winning. Nothing more, nothing less.
You can achieve a reduction in danger through design or through behavioural modification or some combination of both.
The barriers cannot be raised indefinitely. Shaping them to contain the riders may cause its own danger if it results in too sudden a change of direction and a fall back to the track. You could change the curvature of the circuit. You could enforce limitations to the gearing of the bicycles. These last two are from a comment above mine from ChrisHasbeen.
There is no bad take here. Only a recognition that solving the problem likely requires more than just engineering.
For a cycling-related equivalent, how is the safety around a sprint managed post Jakobsen’s near death? Are there any design changes? Are there any rules?
The tracks are basically a
The tracks are basically a modified wall of death. Part of the excitement watching is the risks involved. It’s the riders choice.
C3a wrote:
Sure, but no-one’s going on the wall because they think it’ll help them win. It’s not motorsport where you can just keep your boot in and overtake around the outside. The only time that riders have their tyres on the wall is when something else has already gone badly wrong, they can’t avoid hitting the wall and it’s a desperate last second attempt to avoid a crash. The Marchant crash is a perfect example of this – neither of them wanted to be there. Then, whatever incident led the rider/s to be up on the wall may not remotely be their fault anyway.
As a former coach and rider
As a former coach and rider with a bit of track experience including derny racing I have wondered how fast is too fast for a 250m velodrome? Are the speeds achieved by riders too fast for the tracks now? Even at my relatively pedestrian pace holding your line in a corner at 70plus kph takes some doing and the margin for error is shrinking. I remember the first derny race we rode on the old Meadow bank track we restricted the gears to keep the speeds in check. How fast is too fast? Do we need hockey style plexiglass screens for this level of racing?
Some comments from History.
Some comments from History. The 200m Harlow Velodrome never had anyone go over the top despite higher g forces due to its smaller size. There were pleanty of tyre marks on the advertising hoardings ( some of them mine ). It could have been luck, but my guess is that the flimsy nature of the hoardings slowed down riders in trouble. A ridgid wall of perspex will be very bad at removing the required kinetic energy. My suggestion is a Higher perspex wall for crowd safety, but stick to it using foam pads, advertising hoardings made from a similar material to estate agent signs. Modern Track bikes are faster than my old one because they are more ridgid, that means that they will slow down faster on a bad surface. Only snag after every incident, hoardings will have to be replaced.