South America's rail elite is currently looking for their champions in Santiago de Chile. A serious accident occurred in the women's team sprint on the opening day.
Chilean cyclist Irene Aravena, riding in the slipstream of her partner Estefania Ñúñez, missed the red flag from the race officials. The officials had detected a false start in the race against the Brazilian team and therefore stopped the race. However, they chose not to remove the starting gates from the track, with disastrous consequences. Aravena collided with one of the remaining gates at full speed. According to sportslashlife.com, the crash, which also broke her bike, resulted in a severe kneecap injury for the Chilean cyclist, requiring immediate hospitalization and surgery.
The railway in Santiago was only opened last winter. The South American track championships are the first major competition on the oval.