Olympic hopeful suffers broken collarbone and Reade takes tumble too

Posted: Saturday 26th May 2012 | 23:23

BRITAIN'S leading Olympic BMX hopefuls both suffered heavy falls at the World Championships in Birmingham.

INJURED: Liam Phillips suffered a suspected broken collarbone during the BMX World Championships - his Olympic dreams now hanging in the balance

Three-time world champion Shanaze Reade, who won silver in the time trial on Friday, was lucky to avoid a serious injury after slipping during her quarter-final.

But the news was not so good for Liam Phillips, who had also won silver 24 hours earlier in the men's time trial.

He fell heavily over his handlebars and was taken to hospital with a suspected broken collarbone,

“There was a massive impact there and he was in a lot of pain," said British coach Grant White.

"There was a lot of swelling so we’ve just got our fingers crossed at the moment.

"Shanaze was going fast into the first corner, tried to take a nice tight line and it just slipped out. That’s our sport and these things happen. She is not the only rider who this has happened to this weekend.

“She had the fastest lap of the day up to that point, that was faster than what she did last night.

"Things were stepping up well, she had a great first straight she was opening up more and coming into her own. She said she was having a great day, she was in a great mindset and enjoying herself."