“I didn’t care if I was alive": 3 years after career-threatening crash, American cyclist Chloe Dygert wins trials at 2023 World Cycling Championships

26-year-old American cyclist, Chloe Dygert, continued her comeback journey with a victorious outing in the 2023 World Cycling Championships time trials on Thursday, August 10.

Dygert had suffered a career-threatening crash in 2020, which severely injured her left leg. However, three years later, she showed up at the championship and grabbed a first-place finish, securing a provisional qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

During the 2020 world championships in Italy, the Olympic silver medalist was leading in the time trials when she crashed into a barrier. The cyclist was airlifted to a hospital in Bologna where she underwent surgery to repair her quadriceps muscle. Dygert made her comeback at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, finishing seventh.

However, she missed the 2021 and 2022 world championships due to follow-up leg surgeries. Finally, at the 2023 World Cycling Championships, Dygert made a triumphant return, winning the time trials gold in 46 mins and 59.80 secs.

Grace Brown of Australia and Austria's Christina Schweinberger finished second and third, respectively.

Chloe Dygert at 2017 UCI World Cycling - Day Four

Ahead of the world championships, the cyclist opened up in an interview with The Associated Press about how she felt during her extended absence from competition due to the recurring injuries. She said:

"What I physically had to go through for the injury itself, then mentally what I had to go through — all the personal things I won’t go into — my life at times did not matter to me."

Dygert added:

“I didn’t care if I was alive. I did not care about things. People don’t see and understand, and I can say the same thing: I see people with injuries and things going on, and I can’t understand what they’re going through.”

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A look at Chloe Dygert’s cycling career

Chloe Dygert at UCI Track Cycling World Championships Berlin - Day 4

Dygert was initially interested in playing basketball but had to give up the sport due to a shoulder injury in 2013. She took up cycling as an alternative and in 2015, Chloe Dygert became a national junior champion and a two-time Junior World Champion.

In the same year, she received an invitation from the American cycling federation, USA Cycling. In 2016, Dygert made her debut at the London World Cycling Championships as part of the American four-in-four team pursuit, winning the world title with her team.

Dygert achieved the most significant milestone of her career, so far, at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, where she won a silver medal in the team pursuit.

In the 2017 and 2018 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, she won the world titles in team pursuit and individual pursuit. Finally, in 2019, she won gold in the individual time trial at the 2019 Pan American Games.