BMX rider Connor Fields was moved from the intensive care unit of a Tokyo hospital to a high-level care wing on Saturday, a day after a horrific crash during the Olympic race semifinals left him immobile on the tarmac.
U.S. BMX rider Connor Fields suffered a brain hemorrhage in Olympic crash
The 28-year-old from Las Vegas suffered a brain hemorrhage in the accident and the Olympic neurosurgeon was on standby in case surgery was needed to relieve pressure on his brain.
But the most recent CT scan showed no additional brain injury, USA Cycling said in a statement, and doctors are confident Fields will not need surgery.
Fields, a gold medalist at the Rio de Janeiro Games, also suffered a collapsed lung and broken ribs in the crash.
“Connor still sleeps constantly, but he is compelling and communicative when he wakes up,” said his mother, Lisa Fields, who has been in regular communication with USA Cycling doctors and the U.S. Olympic team.
Neither member of the athletes’ family was able to travel to Tokyo due to the pandemic, so Lisa and her husband, Mike, have been receiving updates from U.S.
Olympic team medical director Dr. Jonathan Finnoff.
Members of USA Cycling’s medical team and coaching staff have also accompanied Fields to St. Luke’s International Hospital.
“Connor is receiving excellent care at the hospital,” said Lisa Fields.
Fields had already qualified for the finals based on his first two heats when the gate fell for the third.
She was in the middle of a group of riders when she landed hard on a jump before the first turn.
Fields hit the deck hard and was hit by two other riders, and lay motionless as the rest of the field finished the race.
Medical personnel rushed to attend to Fields, who was eventually loaded onto a stretcher and taken to an ambulance.
