The Malaysian rider managed to get back on his bike after a high-speed crash in the Keirin final and stagger across the line, but it was only afterward that the full extent of his injury became clear.
Pictures showed a large splinter of wood from the track had gone right through his left calf.
Awang was given third, but missed his moment on the podium because he was on his way to hospital. His bronze was enough for him to capture the series title ahead of Britain’s Chris Hoy, who won Saturday’s race.
Hoy was one of only two riders who completed the race without falling. He said he did not realize what had happened behind him until he crossed the line. “I was punching the air and showboating as I always do and when I came by the scoreboard I saw the officials pointing,” Hoy was quoted as saying by the Press Association. “I saw one guy, then two and then three, but with the noise of the crowd I couldn’t hear.
“It was pretty nasty.”
The crash involved four riders: Awang, Poland’s Kamil Kuczynski, Edward Dawkins of New Zealand and Juan Peralta Gascon of Spain. Awang got back on his bike, while Dawkins pushed his over the line. Peralta ran to the finish line without his bike and was disqualified. “Awang is always in there with the rough and tumble so it’s almost inevitable it’s going to happen to him at some point,” Hoy said.
