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Video: Mayhem as Paralympic C4-5 road race ends in finish-line crash

The two-man brakeaway crashed metres from the finish line. Two disqualifications later, both riders missed out on medals.

A finish-line crash which ultimately disqualified the leaders of yesterday's Paralympic C4-5 men's road race acrimoniously ended a dramatic and tragic day's racing in Rio.

Ukranian cyclist Yehor Dementyev and Australian Alistair Donohoe were jostling for position in the sprint for Paralympic gold when Donohoe lost control of his bike sending  both himself and Dementyev sprawling.

The Ukranian Dementyev came off worse and remained motionless, an arms reach from the finish line,  after tumbling to the ground, while Donohoe managed to scramble to his feet and cross the line on foot without his bike.

After a period of deliberation race officials deemed Dementyev aggressive riding was responsible for the crash and disqualified him, while Donohoe's situation was a little more complicated.

The Australian waited 15 minutes after the crossing the line for a judgment over whether he had won Paralympic gold. He was ultimately disappointed after race officials told him they had to disqualify him on a technicality.

 

 

After the race the 21-year old Australilan said that at the time, the only thing in his head was that he had to get over the line.

"I just knew that I had to get myself across," he said. "It was an emotional rollercoaster because I waited 15 minutes to figure out what the result was and then  I got told they'd given it to me and then they later told me technically they couldn't.

"I'm devastated but I'm not actually in tears because I gave it my best go, it wasn't my fault, there was nothing I could do about the finish and I did everything in my power to try and win.

"If I had my time over I wouldn't change a thing."

An alternative angle on the crash was caught on camera and shared on twitter by CyclingHub. From that angle the aggressive riding from Ukrain's Dementyev - who was taken to hospital after the race in a neck brace - is more obvious, and his disqualification somewhat more understandable. 

 

Below is the Channel 4 coverage of the incident:

In all three videos you can see eventual gold medal winner Daniel Abraham Gebru of the Netherlands crossing the finish line arms aloft.

Brazilian rider Lauro Cesar Chaman finished shortly after to claim the silver medal, while Italy's Andrea Tarlao took bronze.

The finish line incident was sadly overshadowed by tragic events that had taken place behind the leading bunch.

Iran's only cycling representative at these games, Bahman Golbarnezhad, crashed on one of the course's descents and suffered a cardiac arrest en route to the Athlete's Hospital.

The rider was immediately diverted to Unimed Rio Hospital where he died not long after his arrival.

He leaves behind a wife and a son.

- Read more: Para-cyclist from Iran dies following Rio road race crash

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8 comments

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djpalmer32 | 7 years ago
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Cycling on C4. Wow! Everytime I've had the Paralympics on its either been swimming or swimming oh and a bit of athletics.

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festival | 7 years ago
0 likes

A few points.

The Ukranian was entitled to close the door on the Aussie but only in a safe and controlled way.

This did not happen, he rode in a dangerous way and deserved disqualification.

The Aussie was entitled to knock on the door and try to squeeze through the gap which almost opened but then showed a lack of knowledge when he said "I just knew I had to get myself over"  leaving the bike behind.

Their bike handling skill or lack of due to their disability has no relevance regards whats legal or not.

If you watch frame by frame you see the Aussie goes down first due to trying to lean back in against the Ukranian who was already fouling him.

Shame for the Aussie but he didnt deal with the aggression properly and didn't know the rules.

 

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Yorkshire wallet | 7 years ago
1 like

Shouldn't laugh but on first glance at that video screenshot it looks like the bloke behind is out touring with panniers on. 

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Jimnm | 7 years ago
0 likes

Lower limb impairment and neurological disjunction could have contributed to the crash. The health and safety of competitors should be  paramount in these events. 

 

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Butty | 7 years ago
0 likes

A "racing incident" as they say.

Would he have had to ride or just carry his bike across to win?

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tritecommentbot | 7 years ago
0 likes

Hard to tell actually what happened, looked rough though.

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brooksby | 7 years ago
2 likes

"brakeaway"???

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Leviathan | 7 years ago
0 likes

Both videos start too late. Did the Ukranian move over and pin the Australia against the barrier? It looks like the Austalian is trying to push through, but also he has no where to go but into the barriers.

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