US Edition 
Dani King: My Rio Olympics track dream is over
Briton who fought back from horrific crash not allowed to defend Olympic title
Twelve months ago, when she was lying in intensive care in a hospital in South Wales, recovering from a life-threatening training crash that left her with eight broken ribs, a punctured lung and a bruised liver, Dani King’s perspective on life changed.
“I realised that cycling wasn’t the be all and end all,” the 2012 Olympic team pursuit champion told Telegraph Sport in an interview at the time. “There are a lot of people a lot worse off than me.”
King has had cause to remind herself of that fact over the past few weeks as she has been dealt not one, but two body blows.
First, and most significant, King has been told by British Cycling that her hopes of defending her team pursuit title at next year’s Rio Olympics are over.
After a month spent training with the track squad back in July, the 24-year-old – who had taken a sabbatical to ride for Wiggle-Honda on the road this year, with the intention of returning to the track for the Olympics – has been advised by British Cycling to concentrate on the Rio road race. King will not, after all, be reuniting with her old friends and team-mates Laura Trott and Joanna Rowsell-Shand on the boards in Brazil. The decision, King admits, came as “a crushing blow”, especially when she had worked so hard to come back from the injuries.
The blow was compounded by the fact that, with the call on her mooted track return coming so late, she was left out of the Great Britain squad for the ongoing UCI Road World Championships in Richmond, Virginia.
The upshot is that she is neither here nor there this weekend; neither racing in England nor America. When the national track championships begin in Manchester on Friday, King will be sitting at home twiddling her thumbs.
And when Lizzie Armitstead sets off in Richmond on Saturday in her quest to become just the fourth British woman ever to claim the prestigious rainbow stripes, one of her strongest compatriots – a rider who has posted a top 10 in an elite UCI one-day race this year and two weeks ago was 18th on general classification in a six-day stage race despite not riding for herself – will not be part of the team. She will be watching on TV.
“It has been an incredibly frustrating period,” she admits. “I have tried to stay positive but it has been difficult.”
As far as the track is concerned, King admits she struggled a bit when the women’s team pursuit was changed to mirror the men’s event, switching from 3km with three riders, to 4km with four riders. It was partly behind her decision to switch to the road this year, so she could work on her endurance.
However, she felt confident that she would return to the track squad, and certainly had no inkling after her time in camp this summer that she would be ruled out of the running so early on.
“It was a shock,” she admits. “I guess, after the accident, time wasn’t exactly on my side. I only got back racing on the road in late spring. But you know, I did the best I could and I’m proud of that. I was coming from a season on the road, whereas the other girls have had a whole season on the track, including the world track championships earlier this year. I had to train completely on my own, on a bike which was five years old. I was training in Newport in open sessions just trying to get some time on the track. And I came in [to the camp] and was able to hold my own on the majority of efforts.
“Yes, I struggled a bit on some key efforts but I think, taking everything into consideration, I did well. I was not miles behind the others. Did they give me enough time? Potentially not. But it is what it is. I have always had a good relationship with British Cycling and I hope I will continue to do so. I just have to knuckle down now and try to make that road team. I have to prove I can do a job for Lizzie in Rio.”
Unfortunately King will miss a rare opportunity to prove that on Saturday. Again, she admits she was left frustrated by the selectors’ call. “It’s a tough one,” she says. “I was focusing on the track until the end of July so initially Richmond wasn’t a goal for me. But after I was told [about the track decision] I got in touch with British Cycling to say I wanted to be in consideration for the road worlds.
“I went to the six-day Holland Ladies Tour and ended up finishing top 20 on GC, having worked for my team-mates throughout, and with a final stage that went up the Cauberg [the iconic Dutch climb where the Amstel Gold Race finishes] five times. So I thought after that…
“I just can’t understand it. I was out in Richmond anyway as I rode the team time trial with Wiggle-Honda. My flights were already paid.”
King’s frustration would, she admits, turn to despair if Hayley Simmonds, who rode for Great Britian in the world time trial earlier this week, does not take to the start line in Richmond, as was rumoured (although Simmonds subsequent comments suggest she will start).
But, with characteristic good cheer, she is already resolved to putting the last few weeks behind her. “If they only start the race with five riders that will upset me,” she says. “But I have to move on. The decision last month was heartbreaking because it was what I put myself through hell for; the sacrifices I made, the pain and the heartache, riding in circles…
“But I have to see this as an opportunity. I’m going to have a break now. It will be the first time I’ve had a proper break in my career. I’m actually going to go on holiday. Then I’m going to get stuck into the winter.
I’m going to go and stay with Luke [Team Sky’s Luke Rowe, the brother of King’s boyfriend Matt] out in Monaco for a bit.
“And then next year I will focus on the races which will prepare me best for the Rio road race. There is no reason I cannot still make that team at the Olympics next year.”