Laura Kenny races on after dramatic crash in World Championship omnium

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.

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.