UK's silver Team Pursuit nearly fell apart after Dan Bigham's training crash: "My biggest concern was that I've let these guys down"
Track Cycling
It might not be the medal Dan Bigham had hoped for, but even silver around his neck is nothing to be ashamed of at the Olympic Games. It's a certainly a big success for the Brit who could have completely missed the race due to a training crash just week earlier.
There was a moment last Friday when the 32-year-old feared his Olympic dream was over. Bigham had gone eight years without crashing on the track, until he collided with another rider who was rolling around higher up the boards. Both fell hard and Bigham thought of the worst.
"It was about five metres away there," Bigham recalled for Cycling Weekly, pointing to the banking, moments after winning silver in the team pursuit. "I was in a lot of pain thinking, simply put, I fucked it. I crashed at 65km/h, my shoulder was not in a great way. Thankfully, I didn't break any bones, but my biggest thought was that I've let these guys down."
Despite coming through without major injuries, Bigham was still badly beat up which had the biggest impact on his starts, he admits: "I was the most nervous I've ever been," he said. "The start was a big factor. Basically, I've got a lot of pain through the joint, I've done some damage to it, and starting really hurts. I threw myself out of the gates as hard as I could, and had a great start."
As the effort went on, though, he said the injury "cost performance". "I can't lie. I wasn't my absolute best today. I wasn't my absolute best ever since the crash, and that's frustrating, for sure," Bigham said.
"Yes, we can't stand on the top step and say we're Olympic champions and everything that goes with that, but it's absolutely no regrets of how we've gone about it. It's been a pretty epic few years."
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