Annemiek van Vleuten, Dutch Cyclist, Crashes During Olympic Race in Rio

Dutch cyclist Annemiek van Vleuten suffered a horrific crash during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games road race on Sunday. Van Vleuten, 33, held a substantial lead over her competitors during the final descent when live footage suddenly showed her flipping over her bike and onto the side of the road.

The heavy crash on the Vista Chinesa descent cost van Vleuten the race, but the Netherlands still received the gold medal with teammate Anna van der Breggen clinching first place. Rounding out the rest of the podium were Emma Johannson of Sweden and Elisa Longo Borghini of Italy receiving the silver and bronze medals for their respective countries.

After the race, Dutch media later gave an update on van Vleuten’s condition, stating that the cyclist suffered a severe concussion and three fractures to her spine. On Monday morning, van Vleuten posted on Twitter about her accident: “I am now in the hospital with some injuries and fractures, but will be fine. Most of all super disappointed after the best race of my career”.

Van Vleuten was not the only cyclist to have suffered a crash on the treacherous final descent. Four cyclists also crashed during the men’s road race on Saturday: Vincenzo Nibali of Italy, Sergio Henao of Colombia, Richie Porte of Australia, and Geraint Thomas of England. Nibali, Henao, and Porte were all reported to have fractured bones from their accidents. Thomas, a British hopeful for a medal, did not sustain any fractures but ended up finishing in 11th place after the crash.