Katie Archibald has described herself as “mortified” after suffering another freak accident in which she has dislocated her shoulder.
The British track racing star was forced to miss the Paris Olympics this summer after breaking her leg and dislocating her ankle in a bizarre fall outside her home earlier this year.
She made a strong return to action at the recent UCI Track World Championships, where she won gold with the British Team Pursuit squad and bronze in the Madison. However, her momentum has been halted once more by another significant injury from a relatively innocuous fall.
Archibald was riding on the opening night of the London 3 Day event on Friday night when she suffered the accident, which has forced her to withdraw from the event.
“I had a mishap with my bike when coming off the track and a small stumble. That small stumble has resulted, SOMEHOW, in a shoulder dislocation. I don’t know how I do this I really don’t,” Archibald wrote in a statement on Instagram.
“Unfortunately, because of the struggle getting it back in, I’m not able to continue racing this weekend.”
Archibald issued a further hint as to the complications of the injury when she noted she was “drugged up to my eyeballs while every doctor in London gave relocating my shoulder a go”.
Archibald admitted to an overwhelming sense of embarrassment after the second freak accident in the space of a year, but unlike the blow that robbed her of the chance to expand her Olympics palmares, this latest setback doesn’t seem set to hold her back in the same way.
“I want to hide from the world and pretend I’ve not done something like this again. I’m mortified. But it’s only going to be a small blip. Currently looks like I’ll be able to continue with my racing schedule as planned,” Archibald wrote.
“Thank you so much to everyone at the event, especially my dreamy teamy who stayed with me through every relocation attempt. Sorry to my mum who keeps having to find out which A&E I’ve gone to now. Back soon.”
