Atkinson was awarded silver for reaching the final, despite not finishing the race, and was well enough to collect it on the podium and wave to the crowd who chanted his name in appreciation. “I’m pretty pleased with that, to come away with a silver medal even after crashing,” he said.
ARCHIE ATKINSON lost cycling gold with 250 metres to go after crashing to the track in Devon Loch manner.
The Stockport rookie set a world record time of 4:17.700 in qualifying for the men’s C4 4,000m Individual Pursuit on Saturday morning.
Archie Atkinson suffered a dramatic fall in the final stages of the C4 4,000m individual pursuit final as the British rider won Paralympic silver in Paris.
The 20-year-old – the youngest member of GB’s cycling squad – appeared on course to add gold at Paris 2024 to his world championship title on his Games debut as he led Slovakia’s Jozef Metelka by a significant margin.
However, Atkinson was visibly tiring with just 500m to go, and came off his bike on the corner as he lost balance.
Atkinson was struck on the back of the head by the bike as he came off at high speed, and had to be helped off the track in front of a stunned crowd in the Paris velodrome.
British cyclist Archie Atkinson was within touching distance of Paralympic gold when he dramatically crashed during the final of the men’s C4 4000m individual pursuit.
The Games debutant led reigning champion Jozef Metelka by around six seconds and looked certain to top the podium.
Archie Atkinson suffered a dramatic fall in the final stages of the men’s C4 4,000m individual pursuit final as he missed out on Paralympic gold.
The 20-year-old – the youngest member of GB’s cycling squad – appeared on course to add Paralympic gold to his world championship title on his Games debut as he led Slovakia’s Jozef Metelka by a significant margin.
However, Atkinson was visibly tiring in the final 1,000m, and came off his bike on the corner as he lost balance.
Heaton Moor cyclist Archie Atkinson cherished Paralympic silver despite gold slipping out of his grasp.
The 20-year-old smashed the 4km pursuit world record by five seconds and looked nailed on for gold with less than a minute of the final to go.
But Atkinson was pushing so hard with two laps and less than a minute to go that he agonisingly lost control on the top bend, collapsing into a heap at the bottom of the track.
Slovakia’s Jozef Metelka was left to coast home while Atkinson hobbled around the track, helped by medical staff, as chants of ‘Archie’ rang around the velodrome.
British Paralympic track cyclist Archie Atkinson crashed while nearly a full track’s distance ahead of his opponent and seemingly nailed-on for gold, when making an apparent disastrous attempt to beat the world record he had set earlier in the day.
Atkinson was more than a full six seconds clear of Slovakian Jozef Metelka when he crashed, 250m out from the finish, leaving his opponent to coast home.
There were signs that Atkinson was pushing himself and his bike to a risky level, when he dug in for the record. The 21-year-old– who has cerebral palsy, a number of neurological conditions and is autistic – was wobbling, even when yards ahead, and far less streamlined than the Slovak. He then crashed, leaving members of his family, who were wearing ‘Team Archie’ T-shirts, in tears.
Atkinson had taken the world record earlier in the day, eclipsing by five seconds the best time previously by Metelka.
Despite benefitting from Atkinson’s misfortune, Atkinson embarked on wild celebrations as the Cheshire-based British athlete was helped up from the track.
A few hours later, he was flying in the gold medal race against Jozef Metelka and almost lapped the Slovakian.
But on the final lap, as he tried to set another blistering time, Atkinson pushed it too hard and came off his bike in embarrassing style.
Metelka, 37, stayed upright for one more lap and the title was his – which he celebrated in wild fashion.
It brought back memories of the sorry case of Devon Loch, the infamous horse owned by the Queen Mother and ridden by Dick Francis that led the 1956 Grand National but fell on the final straight.
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