Mark Cavendish has won silver in the men’s omnium at the Rio Olympics.
However, the British cyclist was involved in a controversial crash with a Korean racer that led to two other competitors being wiped-out in the final event of the multi-event contest.
Italian Elia Viviani got back on his bike and went on to win the gold. But the collision caused an Australian rider to crash out, and resulted in South Korean Sanghoon Park being taken to hospital.
Things looked pretty bad for the Korean cyclist, who was put in a neck brace and received oxygen and was diagnosed with a mild concussion.
Korean rider Sanghoon Park bound for hospital after velodrome crash pic.twitter.com/s96CtDSJs6
— Gerard Whateley (@GerardWhateley) August 15, 2016
Here’s the collision, as you can see Cavendish take a look over his shoulder just before the crash.
https://twitter.com/nabz103/status/765303891709886465
And another look.
Cavendish wasn’t disqualified for the collision and won his first Olympic medal.
Daily Telegraph journalist Paul Hayward said Cavendish didn’t intend to collide with his opponent.
After the omnium crash Sanghoon Park looked very scared in a neck brace. Unintentional by Cavendish, but Park a bigger issue than the medals
— Paul Hayward (@_PaulHayward) August 15, 2016
Cavendish, meanwhile, took responsibility for the crash:
“It was my fault, I should have been looking where I was going a bit more,” he was quoted as saying by BBC Sport.
Viviani, the eventual winner who was also knocked from his bike after the crash, placed the blame at the feet of his Korean counterpart, saying:
“It’s not [Cavendish’s] fault. The Korean guy was halfway on his wheel to the right. Normally you stay on the wheel. Cav was in the front and changed direction so it’s all normal. It’s a normal crash on the track.”
Many on Twitter called out Cavendish for the collision – with viewers wondering just how the Isle of Man rider escaped any punishment.
Class act Mark Cavendish, intentionally ruining another guy's Olympics. Can add that claim to his list. #LiveStrong https://t.co/tf7LROKlfP
— Ewan MacKenna (@EwanMacKenna) August 15, 2016
He should be disqualified. Ridiculous https://t.co/9ZskPMj0i2
— Tom English (@TEnglishSport) August 15, 2016
How did Mark Cavendish get away with that crash in the #omnium ? Looked pretty intentional to me, or maybe it's allowed? #Rio2016
— Karen Connell (@kazconnell81) August 15, 2016
https://twitter.com/MarkdavidLawlor/status/765299062698569733
So Mark Cavendish can cause a mid-race crash, take out a couple of riders including the leader & get nothing? Right…#Rio2016 #CyclingTrack
— Matt Trodden (@trods2906) August 15, 2016
Can somebody that understands cycling tell me how Mark Cavendish hasn't been penalised for the crash he caused. I'm confused.
— Gareth Lancaster (@unicoderainbows) August 15, 2016
https://twitter.com/Digger_forum/status/765323062707359744
Well, almost everyone did…
Mark Cavendish has achieved his dream.
He's an Olympic medallist!https://t.co/OETZJj8MQK pic.twitter.com/yeYaYwOFDV
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 15, 2016
A Dutch journalist claims to have challenged Cavendish following the event, which didn’t appear to go down well with the Team GB cyclist.
First of all, the British press didn't pose Cavendish the question whether he should have been DQ'd for his move.
— Thijs Zonneveld (@thijszonneveld) August 15, 2016
So I did. I showed him the rerun on my laptop. Cavendish asked me: "The guy wasn't Dutch, was he?" Me: "What?"
— Thijs Zonneveld (@thijszonneveld) August 15, 2016
Me: "Would you care to comment on that move?"
Cav: "I could sue you for that, do you know that?"
Me: "What for? Asking a question?"— Thijs Zonneveld (@thijszonneveld) August 15, 2016
And then he walked away, cursing.
— Thijs Zonneveld (@thijszonneveld) August 15, 2016
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