Cuban cyclist Pedro Pablo Perez to miss Olympics after car crash

July 16, 2008

Pedro Pablo Perez, a Cuban cyclist who had qualified for the Olympics in Beijing, will miss the event after a car crash left him in a coma with brain trauma.

Perez is receiving treatment at the Abel Santamaria hospital, in the province of Pinar del Rio where the accident took place. Details are unclear, but it is known Perez was driving the car at the time when the crash occurred in San Cristobal. It has not been reported by Cuban media if anyone else was in the car, or if other vehicles were involved, but it is known his wife, 2004 world scratch cycling champion Yoanka Gonzalez, was not present.

He received "cerebral ... lacerations and remains in a coma" according to state newspaper Granma.

Perez, 31, has won the Tour of Cuba five times, competed in the 2000 Sydney Games and received medals at the 1999 and 2003 Pan American Games.