Team GB star Kye Whyte is taken to hospital after suffering horror crash in Olympic BMX racing semi-finals

Kye Whyte crashed during the second run of the BMX Racing semi-final and was taken off the track by medical staff.

Whyte made Olympic history in 2021 by securing the British team’s first ever medal in the sport and was keen to add to his collection at this summer’s tournament.

However, Whyte has been suffering from a back injury which he said worsened last night after the three quarter-finals – according to The BBC.

The 24-year-old lost control of his bike after the first jump, went off the track and crashed.

Emergency workers attended to Whyte as he lay on the ground, and saw him place an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth.

The 24-year-old lost control of his bike after the first jump in Paris and went off the track on the second slope before crashing

Team GB released a statement on Whyte’s condition shortly after the crash, saying he would undergo further assessment in hospital

Shortly afterwards he was placed on a stretcher and carried off the training track, but he appeared to be awake and was talking to the staff around him.

Whyte was unable to take part in the third round due to his crash and will therefore not progress to the final of the race in Paris.

Team GB released a statement on Whyte’s condition shortly after the crash, saying he would undergo further assessment in hospital.

It read: ‘Following his crash in tonight’s BMX race semi-final, Kye Whyte was immediately assessed by the on-site medical team.

‘This was immediately followed by further investigation by Nigel Jones, doctor to the Great Britain Cycling Team.

‘Initial reports are positive, but he will be taken to hospital for further examination.

‘We wish Kye a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him back on his bike soon.’

Whyte made Olympic history in 2021 by securing Team GB’s first ever medal in the sport and was looking to add to his collection at this summer’s tournament

In an interview with Mail Sport earlier this year, Whyte listed the bones he has broken while racing his BMX bike.

“Two shoulders, two collarbones, a couple of fingers, two times my hand, two times my wrist, my elbow and toes,” the Olympic silver medalist said. “Oh, and my jaw too.”

The last injury he mentioned was actually the most serious of all. He crashed during his first race for the British talent team, at the age of 13.

“I probably could have died,” Whyte admitted, speaking to Mail Sport in the sports room at the BMX track at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester.

‘Someone crashed in front of me and I tried to move aside in mid-air and I crashed and was knocked unconscious. I was racing in Crewe and when I woke up I was in Liverpool and my mum and dad were there so I knew it must have been serious.

“I was in a medically induced coma for about five days. I had a brain hemorrhage. Half the left side of my face was gone. I missed a whole year of school. It was about a year and a half before I could ride a horse again.”

Whyte recently revealed to Mail Sport how he could have died in an accident as a teenager

He explained that he was in an induced coma for five days with a hemorrhage in his brain and that he was unable to drive for a year and a half.

Whyte made Olympic history in 2021 by securing Team GB’s first ever medal in the sport and was looking to add to his collection at this summer’s tournament

Given everything he’d described, it felt important to ask the question: Why would you do this to yourself? “I ask myself the same thing every morning,” the 24-year-old laughs. “I’m not a dangerous person — I just like to ride my bike really fast.”

He’s been doing it since he was three years old, when he first joined his older brothers Daniel and Tre – who later became world bronze medallists themselves – on the track at Brockwell Park near Brixton, south London. The sport helped keep Whyte on the straight and narrow.

‘It was a normal childhood… apart from the massive gangs around me,’ he says of growing up in council housing in Peckham. ‘But I never had any trouble with the gangs because I was known as the BMX kid, always getting asked to do wheelies. In my group of friends, a lot of us survived that and moved on and became successful.’

More to follow…