Dani King is adamant she won’t let her horror crash disrupt her plans for 2015 as she bids to get back on her bike at the start of the new year.
King, who won team pursuit gold at the London 2012 Olympics, suffered eight broken ribs and a collapsed lung in a crash while training in China.
The 24-year-old was in intensive care for two days and in hospital for ten in total, not the way she had hoped to end her 2014.
However King is not about to throw in towel as she looks ahead to a season spent entirely on the road, the three-time world champion believing that is the best course of action to take to get her into the best shape for the track in time for the Rio 2016 Games.
“There were loads of things running through my mind, like I would never ride again,” King told BBC Radio Solent.
“When I hit the floor I was fine. I thought I’d got off lightly. Then I felt excruciating pain as someone rode straight into my back and that’s when all the damage was done.
“I could feel my ribs moving and was scared. I was in the road for an hour, it was raining. I lost feeling in my feet, which worried me. Three people had head injuries so I was last to be seen.
In hospital I did three gym sessions – and that was with a chest drain in. A lot of people called me crazy, but that was just my way of dealing with it.
“I’m hoping to be on a static bike next week, but I won’t be on the road for a few weeks – but I definitely will be back on a bike.
“I hope to resume full training at the start of the [new] year, so I’m still very determined.
“Initially I’m bound to be nervous, who wouldn’t be? It doesn’t change my focus to switch to the road.
“I’ve had bad crashes before and it hasn’t stopped me. This is part of my job and was a freak injury. It was just bad luck.”
