Day 4: Kelly back at the track, but not on his bike

By Karen Forman

Shane Kelly was back at Dunc Gray velodrome tonight - but not on his bike. Three-times Olympian Kelly appeared with a sling and a smile after spending much of Friday night in the children's ward of Bankstown hospital, having his dislocated shoulder put back into place.

(Why the children's ward? Apparently, the hospital had no other bed for him. And rumour has it that the kids there were all tucking into ice cream when he arrived - but he wasn't allowed any!)

Kelly, 30, crashed out of contention of this week's 2002 Australian national track championships during the first round of the quarter final of the men's sprint.

Known as the "minute man" for his abilities in the 1000m time trial (he was second in Barcelona and took bronze in Sydney), Kelly had just started his game of cat and mouse with Kiwi rider Justin Grace when Grace appeared to slip on the track and slid to the bottom, taking Kelly with him.

Grace was helped to his feet and appeared okay, but the Australian champion remained on his back on the track and was taken to hospital. Ironically, Kelly only recently returned to sprinting after an eight year break - which made his crash even more tragic.

Kelly had been hoping to qualify at the nationals for the Australian team to contest the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in August. He wants to ride the time trial, keiran and teams sprint . . . and in fact, even after Friday night's crash, expressed the desire to ride Sunday night's nationals keirin if possible.

However, tonight he said he would rest the shoulder, with further investigations pending to see whether he had actually taken a sliver of bone in the crash.

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