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Friday, Aug 3, 2012 1:47 PM UTC

IOC says deliberate crash OK

British track cyclist Philip Hindes appeared to purposefully crash his bike, but the IOC won't investigate

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Topics: From the Wires

IOC says deliberate crash OKBritain's Philips Hindes waits for assistance after loosing his balance prior to the start od a track cycling men's team sprint heat, at the velodrome during the 2012 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012, in London (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)(Credit: Christophe Ena)

LONDON (AP) — An apparent deliberate crash by British track cycling gold medalist Philip Hindes for tactical reasons is not being investigated, the International Olympic Committee said Friday.

The incident in the team sprint final Thursday raised further questions about athletes’ ethical behavior at the London Games after four women’s badminton pairs were disqualified for playing to lose.

Hindes told reporters that team strategy was “if we have a bad start we need to crash to get a restart.”

The 19-year-old wobbled starting the three-lap race against France and fell at the first bend. The British trio, including Chris Hoy, won the restarted race.

“I just crashed, I did it on purpose to get a restart, just to have the fastest ride. I did it. So it was all planned, really,” Hindes reportedly said immediately after the race. He modified his comments at the official news conference to say he lost control of his bike.

IOC spokesman Mark Adams said it agreed with the International Cycling Union that “the result is not in question.”

“They are obviously aware of the situation, and at this stage they don’t see any reason to question the result. At this stage neither do we,” Adams told reporters.

The badminton scandal saw teams from China, Indonesia and South Korea expelled from the Olympics on Wednesday for deliberately losing in order to manipulate their route through the knockout stages. The teams were booed off court by spectators at Wembley Arena.

Adams said the cycling incident was different because paying fans “were not deprived of a competition.”

“The race took place and I believe we could clearly say that best efforts were made in that competition by the British team,” he said.

French officials did not formally complain about the British tactic.

“You have to make the most of the rules. You have to play with them in a competition and no one should complain about that,” the France team’s technical director, Isabelle Gautheron, told The Associated Press.

Still, Gautheron doubted that her riders would have done the same thing.

“Hindes prepared for that possibility and knew exactly what to do after his poor start. We don’t share the same kind of mindset,” she said.

___

AP Sports Writer Samuel Petrequin contributed to this report

More Graham Dunbar.

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