Update issued on bobsleigh driver rushed to hospital after horror crash | Other | Sport
Winter Olympics bobsleigh pilot Jakob Mandlbauer “will be fine” despite being taken to hospital following a scary crash in his team’s second heat today, an Austrian team official says. Mandlbauer required lengthy treatment and left the Cortina Sliding Centre track on a stretcher after a delay of around 20 minutes. The Austrian sled tipped over on the U-shaped Curve 7 and slid down the ice for another 30 seconds. Mandlbauer’s three team-mates were able to climb free from the sled once it came to a stop just before the finish line, but he stayed down and needed medical attention.
Yet it is understood that the 27-year-old has escaped serious injury. “Jakob is on his way to hospital,” Christoph Iglhauser, the Austrian team press attache, said to The Athletic. “He’s not so bad. It’s just a check. Everyone else is fine. No injury, only a check. He’ll be fine.” Mandlbauer complained of neck and back pain and was taken away to hospital.
His team-mates Daniel Bertschler, Sebastian Mitterer and Daiyehan Nichols-Bardi watched on beside the course while Mandlbauer was treated. All three were checked trackside and cleared. Volunteers tended to the damaged ice at the same time.
Ben Simons said on TNT Sports’ commentary after the incident: “We’ve got to hope he’s alright, nobody likes to see this. They’ll be getting checked out by the medical staff, they’ll all have a concussion test.
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“All the athletes wear a Kevlar woven burns vest underneath those Lycra suits, because what you get is ice burns travelling at that speed. When your shoulder gets on the ice, it does burn skin.”
While fellow TNT commentator Martin Haven added: “Adding insult to injury, not only have they crashed, but they are shown as disqualified for not completing the run. That will be a DNF for the Austrians.
“Crashes happen. Everybody knows crashes happen, you know crashes happen. You know you don’t need to have another crash to know how uncomfortable they are. But it is part of racing on the edge, that’s what they do.”
BBC pundit John Jackson, himself a former Olympic bobsleigh star, said: “As a sliding community, we all want to see each other safe and healthy and being able to laugh and joke at the top of the track.
“Nobody likes to see athletes crashing and you know things aren’t right because the medics are taking a little bit longer to take them off the track.”
Germany own all three top three podium positions after the second heat. Johannes Lochner’s team boast a commanding lead in the standings. Team GB finished seventh but 0.23s off the bronze medal spot.
