Spectators narrowly avoid buggies carrying athletes after scary collision

24 August 2023 , 18:38

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The two buggies collided while en route to the arena (Image: BBC)

The build-up to the World Athletics Championship's Men's 200 meter semi-final was blighted by a crash between two of the buggies carrying the athletes preparing for the race.

Both buggies were bringing the racers into the arena when they collided en route, very nearly injuring two fans who came within meters of being caught up in the crash. One person on board one of the buggies was actually thrown out as a result of the impact with the other vehicle.

South African athlete Luxolo Adams appeared to sustain some sort of injury as when cameras panned to the inside of the cart he was covering his eye and seemed to be in real discomfort.

During coverage of the championships, BBC presenter Gabby Logan described the incident to viewers and explained: "They [the athletes] get brought here on a buggy and as you can see, there was an accident two buggies collided with two pedestrians almost in the mix there.

"One guy you can see there stumbling away, Noah Lyles is in the front of that buggy and Luxolo Adams the South African was holding his eye. There is a lot of confusion as we've only just seen those shots."

Logan went on to reveal that there has been no specific update on the health status of those in the buggies, adding: "We haven't had confirmation that everybody is okay but we have heard that everything is going to off on time which would indicate that they are all okay. I'm not quite sure how that even happened."

Despite Logan's initial assessment, the men's 200m semi-final was in fact delayed as a result of the off-track drama. Michael Johnson, a former world record holder in the same event, had his say on the situation, claiming: "You had one job, stay out of the way of the other buggies. Come on, seriously."

Luxolo Adams was seen clutching his eye after the crash (BBC)

Logan responded: "They are colliding, pedestrians caught up in the middle of it all, the thing that I was worried about with the buggies was that they might break down, you know.

"I didn't think actually think there would be an accident in a buggy but hopefully everybody is okay."

The athletes involved in the collision, including Lyles, have since ran the race, with the American cruising to a victory and booking his place in the final in style with a time of 19.76 seconds. Alexander Ogando of the Dominican Republic took second.

Josh O'Brien