Sprinter Andrew Hudson reacted to the strange golf cart accident at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest with a dose of gallows humor.
“Maybe next time I’ll walk,” said the Jamaican sprinter after experiencing the shock of the crash ahead of the 200m semifinals.
The incident happened on Thursday evening on the way to the stadium. The athletes are driven from the warm-up area with golf carts over a small bridge to the arena on the Danube, where two vehicles collided. A clearly shocked defending champion Noah Lyles (USA) could be seen on TV pictures, Hudson rubbed his eye.
Hudson then confirmed that he got a piece of glass in his eye. He was treated for 20 minutes, then he “did his best”, but saw “blurred”. With his 20.38 seconds, he was initially eliminated, but the judges put him as the ninth starter for the final on Friday (9:50 p.m. / ZDF and Eurosport).
“They got most of the glass out. Now I have to go back and have it looked at to make sure it’s okay. My eye is pretty cloudy at the moment. I’m doing my best,” assured the 26-year-old.
A volunteer also fell from the other vehicle to the ground as a result of the collision, but was able to get up again immediately. The person is doing well, said the world association World Athletics.