Co-favorite Katrina Matthews had an accident during training a good week and a half before the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii. Training partner Patrick Lange narrowly escaped the accident.
The 31-year-old Briton was hit by a car during a cycling session at a training camp in Texas. On Instagram, the triathlete posted a photo from a hospital with extensive skin abrasions on her face and a neck brace.
Fast rescue
“We drove on a quiet road like a dozen times before”reported two-time Ironman World Champion Patrick Lange at “triathlete.com“. A car from the opposite direction then suddenly crossed the road and hit Matthews. She had no chance to avoid the accident at high speed on the flat road.
According to Lange, who is also preparing for the World Cup in Hawaii in Texas, Matthews was initially unconscious. Luckily, the ambulance got there quickly.
Fractures of the head, vertebrae and sternum
According to her husband, the second in the 2021 Ironman World Championship, which was held in Utah in May, suffered minor fractures in her skull. Katrina Matthews also fractured two vertebrae and her sternum in the accident. Further investigations are pending.
Matthews was considered one of the contenders for the podium in the October 6 women’s race. In Utah she was only beaten by the Swiss Daniela Ryf and finished ahead of the 2019 world champion Anne Haug.
