Ben Curtis / Associated Press
Medics prepare to carry Connor Fields away from the United States on a stretcher after he fell in the first corner of the men’s BMX racing semifinals at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan on Friday, July 30, 2021 .
Saturday, July 31, 2021 | 9:29 am
BMX rider Connor Fields was relocated from intensive care at a Tokyo hospital to a high-level care wing on Saturday, the day after he lay motionless on the tarmac a day after a terrible accident in the Olympic race semifinals.
The 28-year-old from Las Vegas suffered a cerebral haemorrhage in the accident and the Olympic neurosurgeon was on standby if surgery was required to relieve pressure on his brain. However, the recent CT scan showed no additional brain injury, USA Cycling said in a statement, and doctors are confident Fields will not need surgery.
Fields, the gold medalist at the Rio de Janeiro Games, also suffered a collapsed lung and broken ribs in the accident.
“Connor is still asleep all the time, but is convincing and communicative when he wakes up,” said his mother Lisa Fields, who communicated regularly with doctors from USA Cycling and the US Olympic team.
Because of the pandemic, family members of athletes were not allowed to travel to Tokyo, so Lisa and her husband Mike received updates from the chief physician of the US Olympic team, Dr. Jonathan Finnoff received. USA Cycling medical team and coaching staff have also escorted Fields to St. Luke’s International Hospital.
“Connor receives excellent care in the hospital,” said Lisa Fields.
Fields had already qualified for the final due to his first two heats when the goal fell for the third. He was in the middle of a pack of drivers when he landed hard on a jump into the first corner. Fields hit the deck hard and was hit by two other drivers, and he remained motionless while the rest of the field finished the run.
Medical personnel rushed to treat Fields, who was eventually loaded on a stretcher and taken to an ambulance.
The Australian cyclist Saya Sakakibara also had to be transported on a stretcher after an accident on Saturday.
It’s not the first time that Fields, a two-time world champion, has had a serious fall. At the state championships in 2018, he hit his head and was knocked unconscious. He woke up strapped to a stretcher and was taken to a hospital in an ambulance.
“When I asked what happened,” he recalled before the Tokyo Games, “they told me I was having a seizure on impact. I’ve never really passed out and when they told me I was totally scared. “
A few months later he was released to ride again and began to qualify for the next Olympics.
