Germany’s Olympic and world sprint cycling champion Kristina Vogel is in intensive care following a serious crash in training, the German Cycling Federation said on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old, who won the individual sprint world title in Hong Kong last year as well as a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, collided with another cyclist while training at Germany’s Cottbus velodrome.
“We are shocked…,” the German Cycling Federation said in a post on its Facebook page. “Kristina is being flown to Berlin and will be operated on there in [the] coming hours.”
The federation also posted a statement on its website saying that Vogel, who has won 11 world titles in total, was in a serious condition.
“After her training accident at Cottbus velodrome, Kristina Vogel was taken to an emergency hospital in Berlin. She suffered serious spinal injuries and is in intensive care,” it said.
Vogel also had a serious accident in May 2009, when she was knocked off her bike by a vehicle, suffering severe injuries leading her to be placed in an artificial coma for two days.
However, she returned three years later to win the team sprint for Germany with Miriam Welte at the London Olympics, later winning gold in the sprint in Rio.