Multisports: Top coach hospitalised after crash in US

Leading New Zealand triathlon coach Chris Pilone is recovering in a United States hospital after colliding with a vehicle while cycling in Colorado.

It is understood Pilone, 49, who coached Hamish Carter to gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics, was on a training ride in Boulder last weekend when he was struck side on.

Legendary New Zealand marathon runner Lorraine Moller was accommodating Pilone while he oversaw the training programmes of several New Zealand athletes -- including Carter -- in the mountainous state.

She said he was initially in the hospital's intensive care unit but his condition had improved from critical to serious. He had not suffered any brain or spinal injuries.

Moller said details of the accident were unclear.

"The first report was he was hit by a truck then we heard he was hit by a van," Moller told Radio Sport.

"We don't know if Chris crossed in front of the car or the car crossed in front of him. It seems he was hit from the side and (the impact) launched him about 80 feet."

Carter, who retired last week after winning the world championships silver medal in Switzerland, spoke to Pilone briefly today but also had few details.

"He's just come round to be able to talk," Carter told NZPA.

"He's had a pretty bad crash and he's recovering now."

Pilone, who also specialises in middle and long distance running coaching at Auckland's Millennium Institute, was co-ordinating endurance athlete Jo Lawn's assault on the Ironman world championships in Hawaii next month.

Distance runner Paul Hamblyn, fourth in the Commonwealth Games 1500m at Melbourne in March, was also a recent arrival in Colorado for altitude training.

Pilone, a 1988 New Zealand cross-country representative and 1983 Rotorua Marathon champion, was originally to return home in a fortnight.

- NZPA