Olympian knocked off his bike by deer while riding in Richmond Park

An Olympic triathlete suffered an unexpected brush with nature when he was hit by a deer while riding around Richmond Park.

Stuart Hayes, who represented Great Britain at the 2012 London Olympics, posted a picture of himself on Twitter receiving medical attention from paramedics.

The 40-year-old said he collided with a deer while riding around the popular London spot.

Hayes suffered a broken pelvis in the crash.

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He said on Twitter: “Oh deer.

“Been cycling in Richmond Park for 25 years and only heard stories of the wildlife taking out cyclists/runners, but today I was a victim.

“Thank you NHS for looking after me.”

“A deer took me out and now I’m waiting for a CT scan.”

When asked about how whether his bike survived and how the deer was, he added: “Bike is fine which is why my pelvis is broken.

“I think the deer would be in a lot of pain.”

Hayes said he will need an operation following the crash.

London-born Hayes competed in the 2012 Olympic triathlete alongside British stars Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee.

Haye was selected as support for the brothers, finishing 37th himself while Alistair won gold.

Richmond Park is a hugely popular destination for London cyclists and is now the regular haunt of retired Australian pro Simon Gerrans.

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The recently retired victor of both Milan-San Remo and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, has traded in the mountains of Andorra for laps of Richmond Park.

Gerrans, 39, has moved to the capital to take up an athlete internship with investment bank Goldman Sachs, having raced in the pro peloton for the final time last October.

He said: “You do get the odd person who’ll do a double take or not quite believing who they’re seeing riding around Richmond Park on a Sunday morning.”