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South Korean cyclist hit by driver on streets of RioCopacobana beach, Rio de Janeiro (licensed CC BY-SA 3.0 by Joaoluizaranha)

South Korean cyclist hit by driver on streets of Rio

Kim Ok-cheol, who competes in Saturday's Olympic Road Race, was not seriously injured when he was knocked down by the driver's wing mirror...
by Laura Laker
Thu, Aug 04, 2016 09:58
2

A cyclist competing in the 2016 Olympics was hit by a car during a training ride on the roads of Rio de Janeiro, police said on Tuesday.

Kim Ok-cheol, 21, competing for South Korea, was struck by the wing mirror of a car in the Tijuca national park in Rio, according to Reuters, and suffered scratches when he fell to the ground, but police say he did not go to hospital.

"It was a minor incident with light scratches. He did not want to be taken to hospital," a spokesman for the traffic police, Jose Helio Macedo, told Reuters.

Rio velodrome gets thumbs-up from Aussie track riders

Macedo said police officers were passing by when the collision happened.

The local organizing committee, Rio 2016, said the collision was a minor event and Tuesday was not an official training day for cycling events.

Ok-cheol, who was a bronze medallist at this year’s Asian Championships in the team pursuit, will compete in the men’s road race on Saturday. Traffic police will escort riders during the road race events. 

Rio 2016
2016 Rio Olympics
2016 Olympic road race
Laura Laker

Laura Laker is a freelance journalist with more than a decade’s experience covering cycling, walking and wheeling (and other means of transport). Beginning her career with road.cc, Laura has also written for national and specialist titles of all stripes. One part of the popular Streets Ahead podcast, she sometimes appears as a talking head on TV and radio, and in real life at conferences and festivals. She is also the author of Potholes and Pavements: a Bumpy Ride on Britain’s National Cycle Network.

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DaveE128 | 8 years ago
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"The local organizing committee, Rio 2016, said the collision was a minor event and Tuesday was not an official training day for cycling events."

Was I the only one thinking this sounded a bit like the organising committee are blaming Kim Ok-cheol for being on the road when he shouldn't?! :-o Of course, you can only train when the organising committee say so, and cyclists shouldn't really be on the road anyway... 

Or are they just trying to avoid blame in case anyone thinks they didn't organise something properly?

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A2thaJ replied to DaveE128 | 8 years ago
2 likes

DaveE128 wrote:

blaming Kim Ok-cheol for being on the road when he shouldn't?! :-o Of course, you can only train when the organising committee say so, and cyclists shouldn't really be on the road anyway... 

 

Reads abit like that, but i'd like to think that they mean that if it wasnt official training that he was on his own (i.e. not in a group, no team support car etc), so when he had an accident it was abit more concerning or interesting. (i.e. imagine if you have an accident in your car, or whatever, then the person gets up and says their competing in the olympics tomorrow).

 

I also read the 'didnt want to go to hospital' to mean 'i've not got an awful disease now and i dont want to go there and pick one up'.

 

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