Vicky Williamson retires at 32 as former Olympic hopeful opens up about horror crash and lost identity

Vicky Williamson, a former British cycling hopeful, has officially retired from professional sport at the age of 32, almost ten years after a horrific crash nearly left her unable to walk. Williamson confirmed her decision in a recent interview with the BBC, saying it was time to close one chapter of her life and begin another.

Williamson was once on track to race for Team GB at the Rio 2016 Olympics. But her dream was torn apart after a serious track accident in Rotterdam in 2016, where she broke her neck, back, and pelvis. Doctors placed five screws in her back to hold her spine together. At one point, she was lucky just to move again.

Vicky Williamson’s life-changing crash and her fight to return to top-level sport

The crash changed everything. Vicky Williamson needed three major operations and months of recovery. For a long time, doctors were not sure what kind of life she would have.

“I remember it quite vividly, although I don’t remember the exact crash,” Williamson told the BBC. “That was wiped from memory.”

Just over three years later, she shocked many by returning to elite cycling. She competed again at World Cup level, something she once believed would never be possible.

But her Olympic road stayed’ tough. After missing selection for the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, she made a bold move into bobsleigh. She trained, earned a season, and raced internationally. Still, she did not make the team for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

Even then, she wasn’t done. Williamson felt pulled back to the bike. She returned to cycling and pushed for one final dream, a place at the Paris 2024 Olympics. That spot never came.

“It was a journey with very low points,” she said. “From when I knew Rio was gone, to moments where I achieved things I never thought were possible again.”



Now, Williamson has stepped away from elite competition. She has turned her focus to Reformer Pilates, fitness coaching, and building a new career outside sport.

“It’s been a lot to take in,” she said. “There’s a loss of identity. Who am I without my sport? When you’ve done one thing for so long, it’s hard to know what comes next.” She admitted her accident changed her life forever.

“Any athlete who has been injured understands,” Williamson explained. “It’s your identity. And in a blink, everything can change. My accident was life-changing.” Looking back ten years later, she says the timing felt right.

“I’m in a place now where it marked ten years,” she said. “It felt like the perfect time to close that chapter and announce the next chapter of my life.”




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