(CNN) Mark Cavendish held his hands up and took the blame Monday after a collision with Sanghoon Park led to the South Korean cyclist being thrust from his bike and taken away on a stretcher.
Cavendish emerged unscathed during the final event of the men's omnium at Rio 2016, but Park tumbled down the track, taking out eventual Olympic champion Elia Viviani and Australia's Glenn O'Shea.
"It was my fault, I should have been looking more," silver medalist Cavendish told reporters. "I hope he's all right. I apologized to Elia after he went down."
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Park was attended to by medics, put on oxygen and rushed out of the arena as his fellow riders continued on the fifth and final event of the two-day competition -- the 40 km points race.
He suffered a mild contusion and released from hospital after being examined by doctors.
While the crash brought a premature ending to the evening for Park, leader Viviani got back on his bike and claimed gold.
He finished ahead of Great Britain's Cavendish and Denmark's 2012 Olympic champion Lasse Norman.
Viviani recovered from a crash to win the men's omnium.
But Viviani, who rides for Cavendish's former employer, Britain's Team Sky, was adamant that the road racing sprint specialist was not responsible for the crash that could have wrecked his Olympic dream.
"No. It's not his fault," the Italian told reporters.
"The Korean guy was halfway on his wheel to the right -- normally you stay on the wheel.
"Cav was in the front and changed direction so it's all normal. It's a normal crash on the track.
O'Shea and Viviani were knocked to the grown following a collision.
"For sure it was a bad moment in the race. When I saw the Korean guy in front of me go down I thought, 'No chance. I'm going down.'
"My body was OK, I got back on the bike. My adrenaline went up so I was really ready.
"I saw the screen, I saw I was the leader of the omnium and I couldn't think."
Rio Olympics: Day 10
Shaunae Miller of the Bahamas
dives over the finish line to win gold in the 400 meters on Monday, August 15. She edged American Allyson Felix by .07 seconds.
Felix now has seven Olympic medals in her career. Jamaica's Shericka Jackson finished third.
Kenya's David Rudisha successfully defends his Olympic title in the 800 meters.
Russia's Evgeny Tishchenko, in red, won a a decision over Kazahkstan's Vassiliy Levit, left, in the heavyweight final. But he was
booed on the medal stand by fans who felt Levit deserved the victory.
France's Wilhem Belocian reacts after a false start disqualified him from the 110-meter hurdles.
Officials clean the track after heavy rain briefly interrupted competition.
Jamaica's Deuce Carter competes in the 110-meter hurdles.
A wildfire burns in hills near the field hockey venue before a quarterfinal match between Great Britain and Spain.
U.S. gymnast Simone Biles, who has already won the individual all-around and the vault, wobbles during the balance beam finals on Monday, August 15. She finished with the bronze.
Biles is comforted by compatriot Laurie Hernandez, who got silver on the beam. Dutch gymnast Sanne Wevers won the gold.
Poland's Anita Wlodarczyk competes in the hammer throw final, where she broke her own world record on her way to winning gold. Her record throw was 82.29 meters (269 feet, 11 inches).
American Helena Scutt sails before the start of a 49er FX race.
Hungarian goalkeeper Orsolya Kaso, left, competes against Australia in a water polo quarterfinal. Hungary won 13-11.
The trainer of Moroccan boxer Mohammed Rabil sprays water onto Rabil's face during his welterweight bout against Uzbekistan's Shakhram Giyasov. Giyasov won to advance to the final.
Italy's Elia Viviani celebrates after winning gold in the omnium track cycling event.
Viviani, front, gets caught up in a crash during the points race portion of the omnium event. British cyclist Mark Cavendish
apologized for causing the crash, which led to South Korea's Park Sang-hoon being taken off on a stretcher.
A picture taken underwater shows Chinese synchronized swimmers Huang Xuechen and Sun Wenyan competing in the duets preliminaries.
Brazilian weightlifter Mateus Gregorio competes in the 105-kilogram (231-pound) category.
German diver Martin Wolfram practices at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre.
A shamrock is shaved into the hair of Vancouver K, ridden by Ireland's Judy Reynolds, as they compete in the individual dressage competition.
Refreshment bottles are held over women competing in the 10-kilometer open water swimming event.
Athletes start round one of the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Canada's Allison Beveridge and Germany's Anna Knauer fall during the scratch race portion of the omnium track cycling event.
Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong of Malaysia celebrate after winning a quarterfinal badminton match.
U.S. athlete Emma Coburn competes in the 3,000-meter steeplechase final. She won the bronze.
Cavendish -- who won four stages of this year's Tour de France to take his career tally to 30 -- was not penalized for the crash, and continued to go all out in pursuit of a first Olympic medal.
However, he later admitted his seventh placing in Sunday's elimination event -- usually one of his strengths, but this time won by Viviani -- had ultimately cost him.
Cavendish won his the first Olympic medal of his career.
"I was beaten by the best guy out there," Cavendish added.
"I was a little more marked than the others out there. I did everything I could in the race, I gave everything I had, I couldn't give any more, so I have to be happy.
"Elia was strongest across all races, so hats off to the win. I am disappointed it wasn't enough to win."
O'Shea, the 2012 omnium world champion, hailed Cavendish's effort in getting on the podium.
"No one wanted to work with Mark but everyone saw how strong he was," said the 27-year-old, who finished seventh overall after placing 14th in the points race.
"He got silver when he was a marked man -- that's pretty good."