Hoy's hip injury dashes triple world gold attempt

Published on Tuesday 3 March 2009 21:49

FOUR-TIME Olympic gold medallist Sir Chris Hoy has withdrawn from the cycling World Championships this month because of injuries sustained in a high-speed crash.

Complications to the hip injury sustained when the 32-year-old Hoy came off his bike at more than 40mph in the final of the keirin at the Copenhagen leg of the World Cup in February mean he will be unable to defend his two world titles in the keirin and the sprint.

The Scotsman, who won three golds at the Beijing Olympics, said: "I'm hugely disappointed that I'm not going to be riding in the worlds.

"I've been really lucky in my career so far and this is the first time I've had to miss a major championship event due to injury.

"I'm glad it didn't happen this time last year and I'm still totally focused on being in the best shape possible for London 2012.

"This doesn't affect my long-term aim of defending my titles and I'll hopefully be back in training and competition in the near future."

Hoy was strong favourite for the keirin, the sprint and the team sprint at the championships in Pruzkow, Poland from 25 to 29 March until the crash in the Danish capital which Hoy has described as one of the worst of his career.

While no bones were broken, Hoy has received ongoing treatment to his right hip since the fall in the closing stages of the keirin final just over two weeks ago.

But he has been advised by the British Cycling team doctor to stop training and riding his bike, in order to allow the injury enough time to heal properly and to avoid further damage.

Dr Roger Palfreeman said: "This type of injury is quite serious and pretty rare. It's called a degloving injury and it's when the skin and the underlying tissue and fat get separated from the underlying muscle.

"The tissues are not bound down as they should be, which has created a space for fluid to collect in.

"The fluid can be drained off, but every time Chris exercises or gets on his bike, the tissues are tearing again and the fluid's coming back in to that space.

"He needs to give himself a decent amount of time to let the injury heal."