Bobsled: Three Sleds Flip at Same Turn in Olympic Four-Man Event, Austrian Pilot Hospitalized

The second heats of the four-man event at the Cortina Sliding Centre were interrupted after three bobsleds tipped over at the same curve, leaving three teams with Did Not Finish results and sending one pilot to hospital for evaluation. The cluster of crashes and the medical response highlight both the intensity of the course and the immediate consequences for competition standings.

Bobsled crashes cluster at Curve 7 — who was involved

Three different sleds tipped onto their sides around Curve 7, a large U-shaped turn roughly halfway down the course. The teams affected were Austria, France and Trinidad & Tobago. In each incident the sleds continued sliding for a long stretch — almost to the finish line — before coming to rest.

• Austrian sled: pilot Jakob Mandlbauer with teammates Daniel Bertschler, Sebastian Mitterer and Daiyehan Nichols-Bardi. Team members other than the pilot were seen standing and walking away from the scene under their own power.
• French sled: pilot Romain Heinrich with teammates Nils Blairon, Dorian Hauterville and Antoine Riou. The crew was observed leaving the area on their own.
• Trinidad & Tobago sled: pilot Axel Brown with teammates Shakeel John, Aundre de John and Xaverri Williams. Those athletes were also seen walking away from the track.

A stretcher was brought to the scene and the competition was delayed for approximately 20 minutes while medical staff attended to the athletes and the track was cleared.

Immediate medical situation and competition impact

Jakob Mandlbauer was examined on the track, placed on a stretcher and transported to a Cortina hospital for further checks. Team representatives indicated Mandlbauer was alert and moving his hands and legs while being assessed. He is being treated and monitored for possible cervical issues, but the precise diagnosis remains unclear at this time. Team staff characterized his condition as not severe and framed the hospital transfer as a precautionary check.

Under the event rules, all four athletes must cross the finish line with their sled for a run to count. Because the sleds did not complete the run upright, the three affected teams were recorded as Did Not Finish and disqualified from that run. None of the three teams had been in medal contention heading into the second run.

Context on the track and what comes next

The Cortina Sliding Centre features 16 curves on a roughly 1, 750-meter track that drops to a low point before rising to help sleds slow as athletes apply the brakes. Earlier on the same venue, a prior training crash had occurred at Curve 4; that earlier incident led to a concussion for a push athlete who later retired from the sport.

At the moment the Austrian crash occurred, the Canadian team was occupying first place in the standings. Austria’s other competing sled sits in 10th place heading into the third run, which is scheduled for Sunday morning. France and Trinidad & Tobago each had only one sled entered in the event, so the DNFs removed those nations from contention for further placement in this competition.

What remains uncertain

Mandlbauer’s medical status is the primary outstanding question. He has been transported for evaluation and is being monitored for possible neck issues; details on diagnosis and any further treatment have not been finalized. Recent updates indicate the situation may evolve as medical assessments proceed.

The cluster of crashes at the same curve underscores how quickly conditions can change on this course and how a single turn can alter both athlete safety outcomes and the competitive leaderboard. Teams and officials will proceed with the next run as scheduled while monitoring athlete health and track conditions.