Jolanda Neff off her bike for several months after crash.

During a training ride in the Pisgah Forest, near Brevard, North Carolina, Jolanda Neff came off her bike at high speed which resulted in a ruptured spleen, a fractured rib, and collapsed lung.

 

“I misjudged a downhill corner on a trail that was new to me during my training ride and I went off track and over the bars, falling onto a pile of logs," said Jolanda Neff. "I immediately knew something was wrong."

Neff received excellent care at the hospital in Asheville, NC, where she stayed for three nights and was subsequently released.

In order to stop internal bleeding in her spleen, Neff’s emergency medical team used a technique called embolization and thankfully avoided the need to remove her spleen.

It’s unclear what these injuries mean for Neff’s preparation for the cross-country season and her Olympic bid. She was scheduled to compete at the Cyclocross World Championships in Duebendorf, Switzerland on February 1.