World News – AU – Chloe Dygert crashes into guardrail at World Championships and has leg surgery

American Chloé Dygert crashed over a guardrail during the time trial of the road cycling world championships, where she appeared on her way to a new title, and underwent leg surgery as a result

Dygert, who won last year with the biggest margin in history as the youngest female champion in history, lost control of her bike as it approached a curve right

Her front wheel rolled over and she collided with the barricade, turning over in an area with grass

« I remember thinking that if I could get my bike, can I still win? » was posted on Dygert’s social media at 6:01 am local time the next day « The first thing I remember was asking [USA Cycling Sports Performance Manager Jim Miller] if I had finished Then I looked down and saw my leg « 

Dygert, who had a laceration in his left leg, was treated by several people, put on a stretcher and taken to hospital in Bologna, about 40 km from the world host of Imola

I remember thinking that if I could get my bike, can I still win? The first thing I remember was asking @JimMiller_time if I was done Then I looked down and saw my leg

« We are relieved that this accident was not worse than it could have been, » Miller said in a press release « Although this accident was painful, Chloe is young and a fighter With determination of Chloe, we know she’ll be back before she knows it For now, we want her to focus on healing « 

Around 10 minutes after the accident, Dutchwoman Anna van der Breggen won her first time trial title

Van der Breggen has won the silver medal the past three years behind Dygert and compatriot Annemiek van Vleuten, who missed this year’s race after breaking her wrist last week in the Giro Rosa

Dygert, 23, was 26 seconds ahead in the 14 kilometer timekeeping of the 31 kilometer race Full results are here

Dygert qualified for the Tokyo Olympics when she won the world time trial title last year She made an offer to make the Olympics on the road and track

The world championships continue on Friday with the men’s time trial broadcast on the Olympic Channel and NBC Sports Gold for Cycling Pass subscribers at 8:15 am ET A full TV schedule is here

As Cathy Freeman circled the track at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Australia held a collective breath

Twenty-seven-year-old Freeman – with long, elegant strides that made running almost effortless – put on more pressure than any other athlete at these Games as she ran the 400 final m

But the pressure, the one that could have made another athlete flex, seemed to only spur Freeman Twenty years ago today, she became the first Australian Aboriginal athlete to win a gold medal individual Olympic

« My run allowed me to walk in a light, to be in a light, to live in a light that comes from within It transported me to these places that I never thought imaginable « Freeman said in an ABC Australia documentary titled » Freeman « released this month in commemoration of the anniversary. She was not available to comment on this story

Freeman was born in Mackay, a town in Queensland near the Great Barrier Reef She grew up in a tight-knit family, one of five children Her paternal great-grandfather served in World War I, but due to his indigenous heritage, his military service was not recognized upon his return home He was not offered a land grant to white soldiers His maternal great-grandfather was sent to a Palm Island penal colony with his wife and children after refusing to sign his paycheck to local authorities

« I was a pretty embarrassed kid to be a black kid, an aboriginal kid I grew up with that image of myself, » she says in « Freeman » « I could never understand why, when I smiled to someone, he wasn’t smiling back… It was quietly devastating me « 

At 16, Freeman became the first Indigenous woman to win a Commonwealth Games title in a 4x100m relay in Auckland, New Zealand She made her Olympic debut in 1992, eliminated in quarterfinals 400m final

Before leaving for the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, British Columbia, Freeman packed an Indigenous flag in his suitcase The Black, Yellow and Red Flag, first launched on National Women’s Day. aborigines in 1971, represents the indigenous people, the sun and the spiritual connection with the land

After winning the 400m, Freeman wrapped himself in the Aboriginal flag before taking the Australian flag and circling the track in a victory lap Arthur Tunstall, the head of the Australian delegation, stood indignant

« I wanted to scream, ‘Look at me Look at my skin I’m black and I’m the best,’ Freeman told ABC » There’s no more shame « 

The gesture sparked a national debate, highlighting the racism and repression indigenous Australians face at home

“There’s this mural in Melbourne with traditional aborigines with chains around their necks treated like animals,” Freeman told ABC. “I get my strength from these kinds of paintings, which is pretty much near the flag, of all the struggles, I guess, and the hardships my people had to face »

Freeman won a silver medal in the 400m at the 1996 Atlanta Games, defeated by defending 1992 champion Marie-Jose Perec of France

A few weeks after the Olympics, Freeman dominated Perec in a competition in Brussels Perec focused on the 200m the following year and struggled with health in 1998, while Freeman won titles consecutive worlds in 1997 and 1999 in his absence Before the Sydney Olympics, the two had not faced each other for four years

Freeman made no effort to hide the fact that Perec was a major source of motivation

« It was always her in my mind and in my heart that pushed me to do the things I did – train like I did, suck like I did and dream like I did. did it, « Freeman told ABC

Perec was entered in the 400m in Sydney but left town under mysterious circumstances ahead of his race Perec, according to a New York Times article at the time, expressed his frustrations with the Australian media

« I have the impression that everything has been invented to destabilize me », she says

« My heart sank, » Freeman told ABC of Perec leaving Sydney « My heart is still falling now I knew I was up for this She knew it, and I knew it, but we didn’t will never know because it didn’t happen This race will never take place « 

Freeman, meanwhile, faced relentless pressure leading up to the 400m final. Newspaper headlines read: « The One Gold All Australia Craves » and « Running For Home, her people, herself « 

Freeman’s friend Michael Johnson – four-time Olympic gold medalist who won the double 200m-400m four years earlier in Atlanta – understood the weight and importance of performing at the home Olympics

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“I kind of lived that moment with her because it was four years after she was the face of the Atlanta Games at home games,” Johnson said in August “It was her stay four years later in Sydney We talked a lot before that and tried to advise her as much as possible on how to handle that pressure »

On September 15, Freeman lit the Olympic cauldron to open the Sydney Games Ten days later, after removing her warm-up clothes to reveal a stylish Nike body suit, she settled into her blocks for the most anticipated event of the Games

His trainer, Peter Fortune, had written a race plan down on a piece of paper, with notes such as « fast start over 50m », « go from very fast to fast relaxed at 200m », « resume on the turn a bit to be sure of your position « and » go hard about 120 to go and keep fit until the finish line « 

Johnson was at Stadium Australia that evening awaiting her own 400m final, which would take place just after the women’s event Instead of waiting in the call room, he left to enter the stadium, under the stands, so that he could watch Freeman running. His seven competitors followed

“We all stayed there,” said Johnson “We are fierce rivals, and we stood there to watch this race because it was just so intriguing You could hear the crowd and everyone knew it ‘was the race everyone wanted to see, and we wanted to see it too « 

« I remember in my warm-up I felt really relaxed, and suddenly the words ‘do what I know’ came to my mind, » Freeman recalled to NBC on The Olympic. Show one year after the Games « And so, that was it I went out and did what I knew »

Freeman was dragged out from the start, being careful not to overwork too early She got close to the last curve and took the lead in the last stretch, crossing the line at 4911

When she comes back to the race, « I feel like I’m protected My ancestors were the first to walk on this earth It’s a really powerful force These other girls were always going to have to run into my ancestors, ”she told ABC

Fiercely competitive with herself, Freeman was disappointed with her time She knew she could run under 49 seconds But her victory remains one of the most significant moments of the Games, and the image of Freeman circling the track in a barefoot victory lap with the Aboriginal and Australian flags is indelible

“The power of everyone’s emotion that night was just amazing,” Freeman told NBC on The Olympic Show, “Maybe a massive cosmic explosion took place in this stadium… It was something that I don’t think I will experience again « 

That night on the track, later called “Magic Monday”, would be one of the most memorable in Olympic history

Following Freeman’s victory, Johnson became the first man to win back-to-back 400m titles. American Stacy Dragila won the first women’s Olympic pole vault competition, edging Australia’s Tatiana Grigorieva of Russian origin Britain’s Jonathan Edwards, world record holder in the triple jump, won a long-awaited gold medal in his fourth Games Men’s 10,000m ended in a head-to-head sprint in the final 100m , while the Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie beat the Kenyan Paul Tergat by 09 of a second after 25 laps

Freeman, who initially aimed for the next Olympic Games in Athens, eventually retired in 2003, citing a lack of passion and motivation to continue racing at the highest level

His influence and legacy extended far beyond the runway, continuing to resonate with those who hoped to follow his lead

In September 25, 2000, 12-year-old Patty Mills was sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the television, her plush Sydney mascots and the Aboriginal flag on display Mills and his mother had decorated the room in Australian colors

Years before becoming the first Indigenous Australian to win an NBA title with the San Antonio Spurs, before representing Australia as an Olympian himself, Mills prepared for Freeman’s run as if it was his

He doesn’t remember much of the run – « maybe because I was screaming my face trying to push her » – but he remembers the tears of joy that followed as he watched with his parents

« What Cathy never knew at that point was that there was a 12 year old boy… who was so inspired he was fully determined to become like her, » Mills wrote. in an email “I was inspired by the way she portrayed herself and her culture. She was clearly very proud of who she was and was never ashamed of it and because of that I was inspired by the way she handled adversity « 

« People still light up when they talk about that September night. They sparkle and we’re talking about something that happened so long ago, » she told ABC.

« The good thing about this particular story is that a lot of people were involved »

Rafael Nadal was placed in the same half of the French Open draw as his compatriot 2018 and 2019 finalist Austria’s Dominic Thiem, with top-ranked Novak Djokovic taking a break

Nadal, trying to equalize Roger Federer’s men’s record 20 Grand Slam singles titles, could face sixth-seeded German Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals ahead of a potential clash with Thiem, who comes from win the US Open

Undefeated 2020 Djokovic was ruled out by default from the US Open, could play No 7th-seeded Italian Matteo Berrettini in the quarter-finals ahead of a possible semi-final with Russian Daniil Medvedev

Medvedev is the fourth seed but is 0-3 at Roland Garros Another possible opponent in Djokovic’s semi-final is fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, who reached the fourth round l last year

The most anticipated first-round match is between three-time major champion Andy Murray and 2015 Roland Garros champion Stan Wawrinka In Murray’s final French Open match, he lost in five sets to Wawrinka in the 2017 semi-finals

Chloé Dygert, Championship, UCI Road World Championships, World Championship