Kye Whyte has crashed in the second heat of the BMX Racing semi-final and has been taken off the track by medics.
Whyte made Olympic history in 2021 by claiming Team GB’s first ever medal in the sport and was looking to add to his collection at this summer’s tournament.
However, Whyte had been struggling with a back injury which he said was aggravated last night after the three quarter-final races, according to The BBC.
The 24-year-old lost control of his bike after the first jump and swerved off the course before falling.
Paramedics treated Whyte while he was on the ground and could be seen placing an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth.
Kye Whyte has crashed in the second heat of the BMX Racing semi-final and has been taken off the track by medics (pictured above)
The 24-year-old lost control of his bike after the first jump in Paris and veered off course onto the second ramp before falling.
He was later lifted onto a stretcher and taken off the field, but appeared to be awake and talking to the staff around him.
Whyte did not take part in the third heat due to his accident and will not advance to the final of the competition in Paris.
Team GB released a statement on Whyte’s condition shortly after the crash occurred and said he would receive further assessments in hospital.
It said: ‘Following his crash in tonight’s BMX racing semi-final, Kye Whyte was immediately assessed by the venue’s medical team.
‘This was followed by an immediate further review by GB Cycling team doctor Nigel Jones.
‘Initial reports are positive, but he is being taken to hospital for further evaluation.
“We wish Kye a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him back on his bike very soon.”
Whyte made Olympic history in 2021 by securing Team GB’s first ever medal in the sport and was looking to add to his collection at this summer’s tournament.
In an interview with Mail Sport earlier this year, Whyte was listing the bones he had broken while racing his BMX bike.
“Two shoulders, two collarbones, a couple of fingers, twice the hand, twice the wrist, the elbow and the toes,” the Olympic silver medalist said. “Oh, and also the jaw.”
The last injury he mentioned was actually the most serious of all, following a terrible accident in his first race with the British talent team at the age of 13.
“I probably could have died,” admitted Whyte, sitting with Mail Sport in the equipment room next to the BMX track at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester.
‘Someone crashed in front of me and I tried to avoid it in the air but I fell and was knocked unconscious. I was racing in Crewe and when I woke up I was in Liverpool and my mum and dad were there so I knew it must have been something serious.
“I was in an induced coma for about five days. I had a brain hemorrhage. Half of the left side of my face was missing. I missed an entire year of school. It took me about a year and a half to get back on a horse.”
Whyte recently revealed to Mail Sport how he could have died in an accident as a teenager.
He explained how he was in an induced coma for five days with a brain haemorrhage and was unable to ride for a year and a half.
Whyte made Olympic history in 2021 by securing Team GB’s first ever medal in the sport and was looking to add to his collection at this summer’s tournament.
Given all that he had described, it seemed important to ask myself: why am I subjecting myself to this? “I ask myself the same thing every morning,” the 24-year-old laughs. “I’m not a dangerous person, I just like to ride my bike really fast.”
He has been doing it since he was three, when he first joined his older brothers Daniel and Tre (who later became a world bronze medallist) on the track at Brockwell Park, near Brixton, south London. Sport helped keep Whyte on the right path.
“I had a pretty normal life growing up… except for the huge gangs around,” he says of his childhood on a council estate in Peckham. “But I was never bothered by gangs because I was known as the BMX kid, I was always being asked to do wheelies. In my group of friends, a lot of us got over that and moved on and became successful.”
But to continue…
