Olympian Katie Archibald, the partner of Scottish mountain bike champion Rab Wardell who died yesterday, shared an emotional post about how she desperately tried to resuscitate him.
The Team GB star attempted to revive the 37-year-old after he suffered a cardiac arrest while lying in bed next to her at their home in Glasgow.
His tragic death on Tuesday morning came just two days after he won the Scottish Cross Country Championship at Kirroughtree Forest near Newton Stewart, Wigtownshire.
This morning the Olympic gold medalist broke her silence to share how she ‘tried and tried’ to save him and that her heart ‘stopped’ with his.
She tweeted: ‘I think you’ve heard that Rab died yesterday morning.
‘I still don’t understand what’s happened; if this is real; why he’d be taken now – so healthy and happy.
‘He went into cardiac arrest while we were lying in bed. I tried and tried, and the paramedics arrived within minutes, but his heart stopped and they couldn’t bring him back.
‘Mine stopped with it. I love him so much and need him here with me. I need him here so badly, but he’s gone. I can’t describe this pain.’
Mrs Archibald ended her Twitter thread with: ‘I can’t bear to talk about him in the past tense to say anything myself. You mean everything to me, Rab. I love you.’
She has won two gold medal in the last two Olympics, in the Team pursuit in 2016 and in the Maddison in 2021.
The Olympian holds 17 gold medals in European elite track championships which is an all-time record for that championships. She also holds the women’s British national record for the individual pursuit.
Her brother, John, is also an elite cyclist and they both won medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games representing Scotland. Katie won gold in the women’s individual pursuit and John silver in the men’s.
After tweeting this morning, she liked several tweets paying tribute to Mr Wardell, including one from Sir Chris Hoy, who said: ‘Can’t believe this. Utterly heartbreaking. Rest in peace Rab.’
Fellow gold medal cyclist Callum Skinner, said: ‘Sorry to hear of the passing of another great Scottish cyclist. Some of my earliest memories in the sport featured a strong, witty personality who’d help anyone.’
At the weekend Rab Wardell won the men’s title at the Scottish MTB XC Championships.
Mr Wardell, had been riding bikes from a young age but did not take up cycling or mountain biking as a sport until he was 15.
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