Quick Read
- Three bobsleds, including Austria’s, crashed at Cortina Sliding Centre during the 4-man competition.
- Austrian pilot Jakob Mandlbauer was taken to the hospital for a check-up but was reported ‘fine’.
- Teams from France and Trinidad & Tobago also tipped over at Curve 7, with Trinidad & Tobago citing mechanical failure.
- All three crashing teams were disqualified as they could not complete their runs per rules.
- Germany’s Johannes Lochner won gold in the 4-man bobsled, completing a sweep of men’s bobsled events.
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, ITALY (Azat TV) – The four-man bobsled competition at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics was dramatically interrupted by a series of crashes, most notably involving the Austrian sled piloted by Jakob Mandlbauer, which briefly halted events at the Cortina Sliding Centre on Saturday. The incident, along with two other similar upsets, underscored the high-stakes and inherent dangers of the sport, even as Germany’s Johannes Lochner ultimately claimed the gold medal in a dominant performance.
The Austrian team, comprising pilot Jakob Mandlbauer, Daniel Bertschler, Sebastian Mitterer, and Daiyehan Nichols-Bardi, saw their sled tip onto its side around the large, U-shaped Curve 7, roughly halfway down the 1,750-meter track. Mandlbauer remained on the track for a prolonged period following the crash, necessitating the deployment of a stretcher and causing an approximately 20-minute delay in competition. Austrian team press attaché Christoph Iglhauser confirmed that Mandlbauer was transported to a hospital for a precautionary check but was ‘fine,’ with no serious injuries reported. His teammates were seen standing and leaving the scene under their own power.
Multiple 4-Man Bobsled Teams Crash at Curve 7
The Austrian incident was not isolated. On the same day and around the same notorious Curve 7, bobsleds from France and Trinidad & Tobago also tipped over. The French team, piloted by Romain Heinrich, and the Trinidad & Tobago team, led by Axel Brown, experienced similar harrowing slides, with their sleds coming to a stop near the finish line. All members of both the French and Trinidad & Tobago teams were observed walking away from their respective crashes without apparent serious injury, as reported by The Athletic.
Trinidad & Tobago pilot Axel Brown attributed his team’s crash to a mechanical failure, stating that a D-ring snapped in his hands, leaving him without steering. Brown, who had indicated these would be his final Olympics, described it as ‘a crazy way to end an Olympics and to end a career.’ French pilot Romain Heinrich emphasized the instinct to protect oneself inside the sled during such an event. According to bobsled rules, all four athletes must cross the finish line with their sled, even if it has tipped, for a run to count. As a result, all three crashing teams registered a ‘Did Not Finish’ and were consequently disqualified from the competition. None of the teams involved in the crashes were considered medal contenders prior to their incidents.
Germany’s Lochner Secures Gold in Eventful 4-Man Bobsled
Despite the dramatic crashes, the four-man bobsled competition concluded on Sunday with Germany continuing its formidable dominance in the sport. Johannes Lochner, alongside Thorsten Margis, Jorn Wenzel, and Georg Fleischhauer, secured the gold medal with a combined time of 3 minutes, 37.57 seconds. This victory marked Lochner’s second gold of the Games, completing a sweep of both men’s bobsled events. Fellow German pilot Francesco Friedrich, a four-time Olympic gold medalist, took silver with his team, finishing in 3:38.14, bringing his total Olympic medal count to six.
Switzerland’s Michael Vogt, Andreas Haas, Amadou David Ndiaye, and Mario Aeberhard prevented another German podium sweep by clinching the bronze medal with a time of 3:38.64, just edging out Germany’s Adam Ammour. This was Switzerland’s first four-man bobsled medal since Torino 2006. American pilots Kris Horn and Frank Del Duca finished 11th and 12th, respectively, with Del Duca expressing mixed emotions. Speaking to Central Maine, Del Duca stated, ‘We are medal contenders, so to not have a medal hurts. But to be able to walk away from the competition, knowing that we gave maximum effort and maximum preparation… we have very full hearts.’
Overall Milan Cortina 2026 Bobsled Medal Tally
Germany concluded the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics as the undisputed bobsled powerhouse, securing eight of the 12 available medals. The United States earned three medals, including a historic gold for Elana Meyers Taylor in the Women’s Monobob and two bronze medals for Kaillie Humphries. Switzerland captured one bronze medal in the four-man event. Across all three sliding sports—bobsled, skeleton, and luge—Germany amassed a staggering 19 medals, far outstripping other nations like Austria (5), Italy (4), and the U.S. (4), according to NBC Olympics.
The series of crashes at the Cortina Sliding Centre served as a stark reminder of the extreme speeds and precision required in Olympic bobsledding, highlighting the fine line between triumph and potential peril that athletes navigate on every run.