Cyclist Kwesi Browne 'fine' after suffering crash in keirin event at Olympics

Trinidad and Tobago cyclist Kwesi Browne suffered a nasty crash in his repechage heat in the men's keirin event at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome at the 2024 Paris Olympics on August 10 — effectively ending his quarterfinal hopes in the event.

In the fourth and final repechage heat, the 30-year-old Browne attempted to lead from the front in the six-lap event, but he was eventually boxed in after being surpassed by his competitors. Soon after the bell sounded for the final lap, Browne crashed onto the track as he looked to get into his sprint phrase. Browne appeared to receive a nudge from the cyclist to his left, Kazakhstan's Andrey Chugay, before hitting the back wheel of Colombian cyclist Christian Ortega.

Browne was eventually taken off the track on a stretcher.

With the top two riders from each repechage heat advancing to the quarterfinals, Canada's James Hedgcock and Ortega grabbed the top two places to progress.

TT Cycling Federation (TTCF) president Rowena Williams said Browne was "fine" after the crash.

"The medical team here at the velodrome did a wonderful job taking care of Kwesi," Williams said, in a video posted by the TT Olympic Committee.

"He did some quick X-rays to make sure there were no broken bones or major injuries to his head. Kwesi is fine. He's walking and talking.

"We just want to continue to thank everybody for their support, and to continue to support Nicholas as he goes through to the (keirin) final."

Earlier, in the fourth first-round heat, Browne narrowly missed out on the top two automatic qualifying spots after finishing third behind Israel's Mikhail Yakovlev and Colombia's Kevin Quintero.

Browne's TT team-mate Nicholas Paul advanced to the quarterfinals after getting an impressive win in his fifth first-round heat.

On the final day of the games on August 11, Paul will keep his country's medal hopes alive when he tackles the keirin quarterfinals which commence at 5.29 am (TT time).

Paul will face the starters in the second of three quarterfinals, and he will have Ortega and Paris 2024 sprint champion Harrie Lavreysen among those for company in the race. The top four cyclists from each quarterfinal will advance to the semis which cycle off at 6.29 am.