29 May 2016

Crash dents Sarah Walker's Rio chances

1:24 pm on 29 May 2016

A crash in morning practice at the BMX World Championships in Colombia today has left Sarah Walker with a mountain to climb if she is to qualify for the Rio Olympics.

Sarah Walker

Sarah Walker Photo: Photosport

Walker will hope that a damaged shoulder suffered from the fall won't stop her from riding competitively in tomorrow's elimination races in Medellin.

She cruised around the circuit in the time trial today to record a time which ensures a start in elimination racing tomorrow.

If she is fit to race tomorrow, she will need to finish in the top two individuals who have not already qualified, to enable the London silver medallist to compete in a third Olympics.

"It's gutting for her," said Cycling New Zealand BMX coach Ryan Hollows. "Sarah has trained so hard after coming back from her broken arm and had been strong in practice yesterday.

"The track is quite technical for the women and she just got the first jump slightly off-line. The fall has damaged her shoulder and we will just have to see how she can manage tomorrow."

Fellow Cycling New Zealand high performance rider Matt Cameron produced an excellent lap in 38.095s to be 19th fastest.

Racing gets underway tomorrow with three qualifying motos, where the top four riders from each group advances to the afternoon elimination rounds.