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Katie Archibald misses Olympics after bizarre garden accident

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Two-time Olympic cycling champion Katie Archibald will miss Paris 2024 after breaking both legs in a bizarre gardening accident.

The 30-year-old Scottish woman suffered a broken tibia and fibula and a sprained ankle after tripping over a step in her backyard. She also suffered significant ligament damage in the incident on Tuesday and has since had to undergo surgery.

“I tripped on a step in the garden and somehow dislocated my ankle, broke my tibia and fibula and tore two ligaments from my bone. What the heck,” Archibald wrote on social media.

“That was on Tuesday, and I’ve been in full princess mode ever since (assuming it took a whole team of ER doctors and nurses to get Cinderella’s foot back in the right position đź‘Ť). I had surgery yesterday to put the bones back together and reattach the ligaments. Then hopefully I’ll be going home this afternoon.

“A hundred apologies for the impact this has on the Olympic team, which I’ve been told I won’t be a part of. I’m still processing this news, but I thought I should confirm it publicly rather than leave it to the rumor mill (risk of tripping and all that).”

The Paris Olympic Games will take place from July 26 to August 11, but Archibald will not be there this time after winning gold in the team pursuit at Rio 2016 and then finishing on the top podium in the Madison at Tokyo 2020 alongside Laura Kenny.

The likeable Brit has had a few tough years since Tokyo: she missed the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham after a collision with a car and numerous other injuries. Later in the summer of the same year, her partner, 37-year-old mountain biker Rab Wardell, suddenly died in bed next to her.

Wardell suffered a cardiac arrest in his sleep just two days after winning the Scottish MTB XC Championships and Archibald revealed how she “kept trying” to resuscitate him

“I believe you heard that Rab died yesterday morning,” she tweeted at the time. “I still don’t understand what happened; if this is true; why he was taken now – so healthy and happy.”

“He went into cardiac arrest while we were in bed. I tried again and again and the paramedics arrived within minutes, but his heart stopped and they couldn’t bring him back. Mine stopped with him. I love him so much and need him here with me. I need him here so badly, but he’s gone. I can’t describe this pain.”

In her Instagram post after the surgery this week, Archibald paid tribute to the medical team who operated on her.

“A hundred times thank you to the amazing doctors, nurses, x-ray technicians, porters, physios, surgeons and more at Manchester Royal Infirmary,” she added. “I might be back with more updates, I might be off social media for a while – TBC. Ciao for now. Katie x.”

Additional reporting by PA

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