Rising triathlon star and 2016 Olympic hopeful Lukas Verzbicas was seriously injured Tuesday in a bike crash outside Colorado Springs and was scheduled to undergo an operation Wednesday on his back, according to reports in the Denver Post and USA Today.
Competitor Magazine co-founder Bob Babbitt tweeted late Tuesday that he had talked with Verzbicas’ mother Rasa, who told him that her son was in intensive care and “has a broken collarbone, blood in his lungs, and will have surgery on his back” on Wednesday August 1.
In a welcome development, Lukas Verzbicas tweeted Thursday, "Thank you for everyone's thoughts and prayers surgery was successful."
A media relations spokesman at Penrose-St. Francis Hospital in Colorado Springs said Wednesday that the 19-year-old had been admitted Tuesday and was in serious condition. The spokesman said that the hospital was prohibited by law from releasing further information until Verzbicas or his family gave their consent.
Chuck Menke, USA Triathlon Marketing and Communications director, issued a statement from the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, saying the organization is “aware of Lukas’ situation and are in contact with his family.”
Menke added that USA Triathlon is “still gathering information and out of respect for his privacy, we are not yet at liberty to comment."
Early Wednesday, there was a photo of Verzbicas in a hospital gown posted on a social media website – but the photo has since been removed. Verzbicas appeared to be alert and smiling broadly, but there were several cuts visible on an arm and leg.
Verzbicas was born in Lithuania and his parents emigrated to the USA 10 years ago. He won the ITU 2011 Junior World Championships in Beijing but won greater fame for breaking the 4 minute mile as a high school runner.
Verzbicas accepted a track scholarship at the University of Oregon, but after two cross country meets announced in November 2011 he was leaving the legendary running school to pursue a career in triathlon.
Verzbicas planned to attend the University of Colorado – Colorado Springs as a member of USA Triathlon’s Elite Triathlon Academy before making a decision to leave school and train full time as a professional triathlete at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
In January 2012, Verzbicas failed to finish his first professional triathlon in La Paz, Argentina, citing a broken bone. In June of this year, Verzbicas won the ITU Triathlon Pan American Cup in Dallas, Texas and then went up in class and won the 2012 Banyoles ITU Triathlon World Cup in Barcelona Spain and later took 6th at the Tiszaujvaros World Cup sprint event.
Verzbicas moved up in class again to race in the elite ITU World Triathlon Series and finished 32nd at Kitzbuhel and 52nd at the Hamburg WTS sprint event.
As of Thursday afternoon, there has been no official information released regarding the particular details of Verzbicas’ back injury and the details of his surgery -- and no statement has been made regarding a timetable for his return to training and competition.
