Two-time Olympic champion Katie Archibald will miss Paris 2024 after suffering a double leg break in a freak accident.
The 30-year-old Scottish cyclist fractured a tibia and fibula and dislocated an ankle having tripped over a garden step. She also sustained substantial ligament damage during the incident on Tuesday and has since undergone surgery.
“I tripped over a step in the garden and managed to, somehow, dislocate my ankle; break my tibia and fibula; and rip two ligaments off the bone. What the heck,” she posted on Instagram alongside a picture of her in a hospital bed.
Quick Guide
How do I sign up for sport breaking news alerts?
Show
- Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play store on Android by searching for ‘The Guardian’.
- If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re on the most recent version.
- In the Guardian app, tap the Menu button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications.
- Turn on sport notifications.
“Had surgery yesterday to pin the bones back together and reattach the ligaments. Then hopefully this afternoon I’ll be going home. A hundred apologies for what this means for the Olympic team, which I’ve been told won’t involve me.
“I’m still processing that bit of news, but thought I better confirm it publicly instead of leaving it to the grapevine (trip hazard and all that).”
Archibald, who won team pursuit gold at Rio 2016 and then topped the podium in the madison alongside Laura Kenny at Tokyo 2020, has endured a horrendous past couple of years.
She missed the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham after colliding with a vehicle amid a series of injury setbacks, while her partner, mountain biker Rab Wardell, died suddenly that summer aged 37.
“A hundred thank yous for the fabulous doctors, nurses, radiographers, porters, physios, surgeons and more at the Manchester Royal Infirmary,” Archibald wrote in her social media post. “Might be back with more updates, might be gone from the socials for a bit – TBC. Ciao for now. Katie x”.
