Cycling crash was nearly 'complete catastrophe', say family

A family involved in the cycling crash at the Commonwealth Games say they came close to a complete catastrophe.

On the last lap of the men's scratch race on Sunday, a high-speed collision involving several riders resulted in England's Matt Walls being catapulted over the barriers and into the crowd with his bike.

The incident has led to calls from Sir Chris Hoy and Dame Laura Kenny for improvements to velodrome safety with Hoy saying it is a disgrace that there are not protective screens at venues.

The front two rows of the stands were where Hugh Colvin was sitting with his two younger children and some family friends.

The cyclists were going so fast that it all happened so fast.

"You can see the trajectory of the bike, it came through, grazed my daughter's shoulder, and one of the photos you can see is us under the wheel."

I was facing the other way because I turned my head, but I could see that it was close to my daughter's head.

He said that his five-year-old son and his friend's son were sitting in the two seats that Walls' bike landed in.

Laura was not at the velodrome and it has sunk in to her that it could have been worse.

Team England cyclist Matt Walls crashes over the barriers and into the crowd at the velodrome during the Commonwealth Games
Team England cyclist Matt Walls did not sustain any serious injuries in the crash

She said that it has been difficult for them to get their head around how close this came to being a catastrophe.

How close our two younger children came to dying. Over the last few days we have had to think about that.

A friend who attended the event with the Colvins is waiting for surgery for an arm injury, contrary to the initial statement from the organizers.

The hospital said he had a laceration to the bone that was like a machete injury.

He's still waiting for surgery and it's been hard for him. It is the start of a long road to recovery for him because he has a partially severed tendon in his arm.

The three children were worried about the condition of the three cyclists who went to hospital after the crash.

On Monday, Walls video-called the girl, which they said was a huge step forward in helping her come to terms with what she had seen.

The quick response of volunteers, paramedics and team coaches made a difference in the aftermath of the crash.

The family wants the incident to prompt a review of velodrome safety in order to make them feel reassured.

They weren't aware that a cyclist had flown off the track before.

If we had known that a bike with an adult male going at that speed could come into contact with my daughter, my family wouldn't have been there.

Bostock, who is still hoping to compete in Sunday's road race, said that there has to be something done because it's going down as a freak accident.

I'm not sure how many freak accidents become normal accidents. I don't know if it was worse. It should be made safer before a terrible accident happens.

The initial wording of their statement had caused upset to the Colvin family, and they apologized for that.

A full and detailed accident investigation is under way and will be passed on to the relevant parties.

The venue of the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority complies with international regulations and has never had an accident like this before.

This was a shocking experience for those involved and we wish them well.

"After incidents of this nature it's appropriate to review matters relating to safety and we'll do everything we can to support conversations both nationally and internationally in this regard."

The UCI said that they are taking the incident very seriously and will continue to work with event organizers and other key parties to make sure the strictest safety measures are in place.

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