Tokyo Olympics 2020: BMX racing - Dutch gold medal favourite Niek Kimmann hits official in scary crash

Dutch BMX gold medal favourite Niek Kimmann suffered a scary crash with an official. Photo / Twitter

Dutch BMX racer Niek Kimmann suffered a scary crash with an errant official during a training session at the Ariake Urban Sports Park in Tokyo on Monday.

Kimmann, a former BMX World Champion and medal favourite in the BMX racing in Tokyo, injured his knee as he flew down one of the course's jumps only to find a tournament steward standing in the middle of the track.

The 25-year-old ended up crashing straight into the official, with both hitting the tarmac hard.

So this is what happened today. 💣 Hit an official that wanted to cross the 2nd straight. Hope the official is O.K. My knee is sore, but will do my best to be ready for Thursday! Thanks everyone for the messages, appreciate it! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/QOdJ2r0usT

— Niek Kimmann (@niekkimmann) July 26, 2021

"I hit an official trying to cross the lane," Kimmann wrote on Twitter. "Hope the official is OK. My knee hurts, but I'll do my best to be ready by Thursday! Thanks everyone for the messages, I appreciate it!"

Fans were bemused as to why the official was on the track in the first place.

"I mean what on earth was he doing on the track for goodness sake?!" asked one fan on Twitter.

While others praised Kimman for his classy response: "Amazing it appears he was immediately concerned for the pedestrian rather [than] angry. Classy."

Full Kiwi schedule below. Click on a name to see athlete's bio, upcoming events, past Games performance and medal chance.

Kimmann of the Netherlands is one of the favourites for the gold medal in BMX racing, which starts on Thursday.

He won the BMX world title in 2015 at the age of 19 and finished seventh at the 2016 Olympics in Rio after crashing out.

He is ranked third in the UCI BMX elite men's rankings.

New Zealand's Rebecca Petch will compete in the women's BMX racing quarter-final heats on Thursday at 1.21pm.

The 23-year-old Petch beat out her sporting hero Sarah Walker, who claimed silver at the 2012 London Games, to win selection for New Zealand.