UPDATE: Loana Lecomte suffers head trauma and minor jaw injury after horrific crash in women's Olympic mountain bike

At a home Olympic Games and in front of a vociferously supportive French crowd, Loana Lecomte started incredibly strongly in the women's mountain bike race. Sadly however, it has all ended in disaster for the Frenchwoman.

After taking an early lead on the opening lap, Lecomte was then caught and passed by her compatriot, Pauline Ferrand-Prevot and then, after a small battle, saw Dutchwoman Puck Pieterse also ride off ahead. As Lecomte was then swallowed up by the chasing pack in the battle for bronze, a moment's lack of concentration proved disastrous as she crashed hard, head over heels on the logs, ending her hopes of taking a medal.

According to reports by French outlet L'Equipe, Lecomte has suffered some head trauma from the hard crash and a "relatively minor jaw injury." The Frenchwoman was evacuated from the course on the back of a stretcher a short while after the incident and rushed to a local medical facility for further checks.

In the end, Lecomte's compatriot Pauline Ferrand-Prevot took the gold medal, much to the delight of a raucous French crowd that had come out in force to the Paris course.

See it for yourself down below and we send out best wishes to Loana Lecomte!