Champion cyclist going for gold following road accident - The Rugby Observer

Champion cyclist going for gold following road accident

Rugby Editorial 21st Mar, 2018   0

A CHAMPION cyclist from Kenilworth is preparing to go for gold less than a year after being left in a hospital bed when she was knocked off her bike riding to work.

Ciara Horne will jump in the saddle to represent Wales, the homeland of her father, at the Commonwealth Games in Australia next month.

World champion cyclist Ciara Horne won gold at the UEC European Track Championships in Switzerland. (Creative Commons Licence)

The 28-year-old physiotherapist will be competing in the velodrome just 12 months after hitting a car which pulled out in front of her in Cardiff. It left her with severe cuts to her face, a shoulder injury and broken wrist.

The former Stratford Girls’ Grammar School pupil, who admitted she felt lucky to be alive following the accident, has since called for a greater understanding between motorists and cyclists.




From her hospital bed she even tweeted a picture of herself with the slogan ‘Please think once, think twice, think bike,’ with a plea to her followers to retweet the image.

Ciara retweeted a picture of herself following her accident to raise road safety awareness. Picture – Twitter

She said: “I’m keen to promote road safety because sadly it’s becoming all too common hearing of death among cyclists in the UK.


“I’m not saying that all car drivers are bad, you get cyclists that do things they shouldn’t and you get car drivers that do what they shouldn’t do too, but it’s getting respect for one another.

“Take that extra five seconds to look left and look right, and check your blind spot as well. In my opinion it is people rushing and a lack of awareness.

“Overcoming the crash has probably been my biggest challenge.

“I was working full time alongside racing on an international stage and it was very different for me in terms of time management. I was on my feet all day which meant I wasn’t recovering as well.

“It was a completely different challenge but one that I embraced and in some ways enjoyed the balancing act.”

But the two-times European Track Championships gold medallist and road World Championship bronze medallist is now raring to go at the Gold Coast games where she will compete in both the team and individual pursuits.

And after Brisbane, Ciara – who as a reserve, watched from the sidelines at the Rio Olympics as her teammates bagged gold medals – will have her sights set on the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

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