Dani King still hopeful of racing at Rio Olympics despite being set back by horror crash
Last Updated: 24/12/14 11:59am
Dani King remains confident of racing at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, despite admitting a horror crash in training has badly set back her preparations.
The 24-year-old London 2012 gold medallist suffered a punctured lung and eight broken ribs in a pile-up of riders in Wales last month.
She has made a remarkable recovery and returned to training on the road last Saturday, just six weeks after the accident.
However, in an interview for Sportswomen on Sky Sports News HQ, she revealed she has lost a substantial chunk of fitness and is well behind schedule for her 2015 season, which she has opted to race entirely on the road in an effort to win back her place in Britain's team pursuit squad.
'Couple of months behind'
"I really want to stick with my plan," she said. "I really had faith in the programme that I had come up with and really believed in it.
"Ultimately, I want to get back in the track team for Rio, but I believe that the plan I had with the road season coming up would really help me, so I am hoping to start where I left off and just be a couple of months behind.
"I want to go to Rio - 100 per cent. It's definitely possible and I believe in myself that I can make it. It might take me a little bit more time than I hoped - maybe this season to get up to fitness - but I have definitely got time to get back to Rio and that is my ultimate aim."
King spent 12 days in hospital, including two in intensive care, following the accident and admitted the experience had been mentally difficult to accept
"I love training and working hard, but the last few weeks I feel like I haven't gone anywhere," she said. "I know I have made massive progress from this injury, but if this hadn't have happened, I think I would be a lot fitter and stronger. That frustrates me."
Pothole problem
King's accident was caused when a member of the group in which she was riding hit a pothole and fell sideways, bringing several others down in the process.
Potholes are a problem that affects professionals and amateurs alike and King said her crash had made her realise how dangerous British roads can be.
"The pothole caused the accident," she said. "If the pothole wasn't there, it wouldn’t have happened. It's really important the government do something about the whole cycling infrastructure and try to improve the roads so things like this don’t happen in the future.
"We are quite behind countries like Denmark and Holland in terms of how much money they invest in cycling infrastructure, so to have an increase on that would be really good."
