VICKY WILLIAMSON: MY NEW LIFE AFTER HORROR TRACK CRASH

Former Great Britain track cyclist Vicky Williamson has announced her retirement from elite sport, reflecting on a career marked by significant highs, life-changing injury, and an unexpected second chapter across multiple disciplines.

Williamson, a sprint cyclist from Hevingham in Norfolk, had been on course for selection for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games when her career was abruptly halted by a catastrophic crash at a velodrome in Rotterdam in January 2016. The accident left her with fractures to her neck and back, a dislocated pelvis, and a slipped disc. Surgeons carried out three operations, inserting five screws to stabilise her spine, and doctors warned that she had been extremely fortunate not to suffer paralysis.

At the time of the crash, Williamson was considered one of Britain’s emerging sprint talents. Speaking to the BBC, she described the emotional impact of seeing her Olympic ambitions disappear overnight, alongside the physical challenges of recovery. After four weeks in hospital, she took her first steps towards rehabilitation, beginning a long and uncertain journey back to health.

Williamson explained that the process of coping with such injuries was not only physical but deeply psychological. Elite sport had defined her identity, and the sudden loss of that pathway forced her to confront difficult questions about who she was beyond cycling and what direction her life might take.

Despite the severity of her injuries, Williamson eventually returned to elite competition. She made a remarkable comeback to track cycling 752 days after the crash and later competed at World Cup and World Championship level in 2019. However, circumstances beyond her control meant she did not accumulate sufficient qualification points to secure selection for the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games, leaving her without the ultimate target that had driven years of rehabilitation.

Determined to continue competing at the highest level, Williamson then discovered an opportunity in an entirely different sport. After responding to a social media post seeking powerful female athletes for bobsleigh, she attended testing and was offered a place within the Great Britain bobsleigh programme. Between 2020 and 2022, she competed internationally, including at the IBSF World Cup in Konigssee, racing exactly five years to the day after her cycling accident.

Although she found success and enjoyment in bobsleigh, Williamson admitted that track cycling remained closest to her heart. She took a three-month break from bobsleigh to attempt a return to the national cycling squad with the aim of qualifying for the Paris Olympics, narrowly missing one of her selection targets. As a result, she stepped away from both Olympic pathways, a decision she said she had mentally prepared herself for.

Now 32, Williamson has chosen to close the chapter on elite competition entirely, marking ten years since the accident as a natural moment to reflect and move forward. She acknowledged the emotional difficulty of retirement, particularly the sense of losing an identity that had been shaped by sport from a young age.

Williamson has since transitioned into a new career in health and fitness. Now based in Manchester, she works as a Reformer Pilates instructor and functional fitness coach, while also sharing her story with businesses and organisations as a motivational speaker. She described finding renewed purpose through helping others and staying connected to the industry that had defined her life.

While competitive sport no longer provides the same daily focus, Williamson said her work continues to give her fulfilment and direction. Health, rehabilitation and performance have been central themes throughout her journey, and she believes remaining in the fitness sector is a natural extension of her experiences as an elite athlete.

Her story highlights both the risks inherent in high-performance sport and the resilience required to rebuild after serious injury. Williamson’s career, spanning Olympic ambition, severe trauma, elite comeback and cross-sport competition, stands as a testament to adaptability and determination beyond medals alone.

This article is an independent summary of reporting originally published by BBC.

Original source:
Laura Devlin, “Team GB cyclist on horrific crash and new life”, BBC News - 19 January 2026