BMX world champion and Olympic favourite Niek Kimmann collided with an official yesterday during a training run ahead of the BMX quarter-finals at Tokyo 2020.
Kimmann won the BMX World Championships back in 2015, and followed that up with a second-placed finish a year later.
In 2019, he secured the European Championships – making him one to watch ahead of the Olympic competition getting underway.
But he was involved in a huge incident during training when he struck an official who was crossing the track.
It was a nasty collision, and attention immediately turned to the well-being of both men involved.
It follows on from a separate incident in which Dutch cyclist Anna van der Breggen was reportedly pulled from her bike by an official.
Kimmann – who can be seen getting to his feet in the above clip – confirmed on Instagram that his knee was “sore” following the incident, and said that he will “do my best” to recover in time for the BMX competition, which begins on Thursday.
Alongside a clip of the collision, he wrote: “So this happened today.
“Hit an official that wanted to cross the second straight. Hope the official is O.K.
“My knee is sore, but will do my best to be ready for Thursday! Thanks everyone for the messages, appreciate it!”
Kimmann is due to race in the first heat of the quarter-finals, alongside Dutch team-mate Twan van Gendt.
The women’s tournament is set to commence on the same day. Beth Shriever is the sole representative of Team GB.
Following on from those competitions, the inaugural BMX freestyle event for both men and women begins on Friday.
Meanwhile, in the men’s cross-country mountain biking event held on Monday, Team GB’s Tom Pidcock took the gold medal – just two months after suffering a broken collarbone.
He moved into the lead early on in the gruelling eight-lap race and held off competition from all comers, including Swiss world number one Mathias Flueckinger.
Featured Image Credit: Getty
