Laura Kenny races on after dramatic crash in World Championship omnium
Omnium olympic champion left bloodied as five riders come down in Berlin
Laura Kenny will continue to ride the rest of the races in the World Championship omnium despite suffering a heavy crash in the first race of the four race event.
Kenny suffered a cut to her face near her right eye that needed stitches after coming down hard in the scratch race in Berlin.
The omnium Olympic champion went down hard in the penultimate lap and slid down the banking with further riders running into the back of her.
She was one of five riders that fell in the race as the effect of a rider coming down right in front of Kenny cascaded through the bunch.
She was quickly attended to by medical staff and was able to walk away from the track. Meanwhile, Mexican rider Lizbeth Salazar had to be stretchered off.
However, after a concussion check by the British team doctor she has opted to continue with the rest of the races, despite being likely out of medal contention apparently being keen to test herself against a world class field.
The Berlin crash follows one she suffered at the Milton World Cup round in Canada last month. There, in similar circumstances, she was thrown over the bars and fractured her right shoulder blade and sustained a concussion and a black eye.
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She took a risk by doing the omnium at the Worlds and opting not to have surgery on her shoulder. Prior to the Worlds she told the Daily Mail: “Lots of people, even the doctor, thought I had gone crazy putting it on the line at the Worlds.
"There are obviously risks. My shoulder is a lot weaker now and if I crash I would put myself back a lot, but it's a risk I'm willing to take.
“My scapula is broken, it will never be the same again. The amount of impact needed to break the shoulder is insane. When I went to hospital they asked if I had crashed a motorbike.
The scratch was won by Japanese rider Yumi Kajihara. Dutch rider Kirsten Wild was relegated from second place, reportedly for causing the crash that took down Kenny and the other riders.
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Having trained as a journalist at Cardiff University I spent eight years working as a business journalist covering everything from social care, to construction to the legal profession and riding my bike at the weekends and evenings. When a friend told me Cycling Weekly was looking for a news editor, I didn't give myself much chance of landing the role, but I did and joined the publication in 2016. Since then I've covered Tours de France, World Championships, hour records, spring classics and races in the Middle East. On top of that, since becoming features editor in 2017 I've also been lucky enough to get myself sent to ride my bike for magazine pieces in Portugal and across the UK. They've all been fun but I have an enduring passion for covering the national track championships. It might not be the most glamorous but it's got a real community feeling to it.
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