Olympics cycling: GB crash 'will not be investigated'

Philip Hindes's crash in Great Britain's gold medal-winning team sprint will not be investigated.

German-born Hindes appeared to admit falling off his bike to help the team to victory at the London Velodrome.

"I just crashed, I did it on purpose to get a restart, just to have the fastest ride," said the 19-year-old.

But British Cycling said Hindes had been misunderstood because English is not his first language, while Olympic bosses said they would not investigate.

"People were not deprived of a competition, unlike in the badminton. A race took place and best efforts were made by the British team," said the IOC's Mark Adams.

"They see no reason to question the result and neither do we. This is a matter of degree and judgement. In the case of the badminton it clearly crossed the line."

Hindes, Sir Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny won the three-man, three-lap team sprint in a world record of 42.600 seconds, beating France in a repeat of the final four years ago in Beijing.

Hindes, the specialist starter, wobbled and lost control of his bike before tumbling to the track at the beginning of the first bend. His team-mates went past him but officials decided to restart the heat.

Teams are allowed a second start, but Hindes, who only moved to the United Kingdom two years ago, appeared to say he intentionally crashed because Britain's start was not good enough.

French coach Florian Rousseau has called for a rule change but conceded Great Britain were worthy winners.

"There was no cheating," he said. "The British team was much stronger than the French team and I congratulate them on their success.

"However, I do think the rules need to be more precise so we don't find ourselves in an identical situation at another Olympic Games."