Team GB sprinter James Ellington sues teammate Nigel Levine for £1m over motorbike crash

A British Olympic sprinter is suing his teammate for more than £1million over a head-on motorbike crash that he claims ruined his running career. 

James Ellington, 37, was struck by a Spanish motorist while riding as a passenger behind fellow Team GB athlete Nigel Levine, 33, in Tenerife in January 2017.  

Mr Ellington claimed he was ‘robbed of a vital speed margin’ after suffering multiple fractures in his legs and pelvis, London‘s High Court heard.

According to the complaint, the crash ‘put paid to sprinting’ for Mr Ellington at the highest level and prevented him from becoming a track superstar and enjoying a lucrative commentating career in his retirement.

Prior to the accident Mr Ellington had represented Team GB at both the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

He had also won the 200m sprint at the 2012 and 2013 British Athletics Championships.

Insurers for Mr Levine – who received a four-year sports ban in 2018 for failing a drugs test – have now agreed to give Mr Ellington compensation. A trial scheduled for 2024 will determine how much is awarded.

High Court judge Master Victoria McCloud held a brief pre-trial hearing this week as lawyers discussed what expert evidence should be heard at trial, and the likely £500,000 in legal costs.

James Ellington (left), 37, was struck by a Spanish motorist while riding as a passenger behind his fellow Team GB athlete Nigel Levine (right), 33, in Tenerife in January 2017

James Ellington posted a picture of himself in his hospital bed on Instagram following the crash in 2017

Mr Levine’s insurers have now agreed to compensate Mr Ellington (pictured following crash in 2017), who is seeking damages of more than £1m. A trial will determine how much he will be awarded

At the time of the crash, both athletes were taking part in a two-week training camp for British sprinters. 

Although Mr Ellington fought back from multiple leg fractures to log a remarkable 10.93 over 100 metres in 2019 and competed in the 2021 British Athletics Championships, he insists he was never again the same top-flight runner he had been before the crash. 

‘Mr Ellington sustained numerous orthopaedic injuries in the accident, including, most significantly given his profession, multiple fractures to both lower legs and a fracture to his pelvis,’ his barrister Katherine Deal told the judge.

‘In addition, he sustained a minor head injury and significant psychiatric damage.

‘At the time of the accident, he was part of Team GB in the best form of his career.

‘He had hopes and expectations of on-going success on the track, which would then have led on to greater recognition, more remunerative sponsorship, and increased opportunities for commentating, coaching and other routes to income once he stopped racing.

‘His case is that he has lost out on the most successful and lucrative stage of his sporting career because of his injuries, and his financial losses are substantial.’

Mr Levine was also badly injured in the collision, needing surgery to stabilise his pelvis.

Speaking about the crash earlier this year, Mr Ellington said he and Mr Levine had been lucky to escape alive.

‘I was at the peak of my career when the crash happened and was running faster than I ever had. However, life then changed in a split-second.

According to the complaint, the crash ‘put paid to sprinting’ for Mr Ellington (pictured at the 2012 European Athletics Championships) at the highest level and prevented him from becoming a track superstar and enjoying a lucrative commentating career in his retirement

Speaking about the crash earlier this year, Mr Ellington said he and Mr Levine had been lucky to escape alive. Pictured left to right: Richard Buck, Michael Bingham, Richard Strachan and Nigel Levine celebrate winning the Men’s 4x400m Relay final event at the European Indoor Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, on March 3, 2013

‘It’s been an incredibly tough few years with a lot of ups and downs. While I’m lucky to be alive, I’ve always been determined that the collision should not define me and have focused on getting back out on the track.

‘However, if it wasn’t for the collision I’m confident I would have kept on performing at the highest level and would have continued to represent my country at major championships.’

Ms Deal told the court this week that the former sprinter ‘seeks permission for expert evidence in the fields of athletics – to address… how his racing career would have panned out and whether his assessment of his own abilities was realistic, and in sports marketing to address the routes to income open to professional sportsmen and women.’

A trial is now scheduled for 2024, which will look into the disputed issue of how much compensation Mr Ellington is due for his injuries.