U.S. BMX racer and defending Olympic gold medalist Connor Fields was carried off the course on a stretcher after crashing Friday at the Tokyo Games.
Fields, 28, of Las Vegas, was racing in the semifinals when he landed hard off a jump heading into the first turn in the third run.
His condition was not immediately known.
Fields had qualified but did not compete in the BMX finals.
This is his third Olympics. He won the gold medal at the 2016 Rio Games and also appeared in the 2012 London Games.
The Olympics tweeted its thoughts for Fields and Australia’s Saya Sakakibara, who also crashed out of the semi-finals.
The Netherlands’ Niek Kimmann won the gold in the men’s BMX racing event. Kye Whyte of Great Britain won silver, and Carlos Alberto Ramirez Yepes captured bronze.
BMX racing in the Olympics was introduced at the 2008 Beijing Games. Fields at Rio was the first American to win the gold in the event.
The Associated Press contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
