Jakob Mandlbauer of Austria was hospitalized Saturday but somehow escaped serious injury after the four-man bobsled that he was piloting flipped over on the track, and he was dragged along the track with his head hitting the wall, according to reports from the Winter Olympics.
Mandlbauer was examined on the scene of the horrific crash by medical professionals, transported via stretcher and brought to a Cortina hospital.
An Austrian teammate told reporters that Mandlbauer is “alert, he is conscious, he was moving hands, moving his legs,” according to NBC News.
The report stated that Mandlbauer is being treated and monitored for “possible cervical issues but at this point it is still unclear what is diagnosis is.”
Christoph Iglhauser, the Austrian team press spokesperson, said Mandlbauer avoided a serious injury and was taken to the hospital as a precaution after reporting neck and back pain while being examined.
“Jakob is on his way to [the] hospital,” Iglhauser 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’s three teammates, whose heads do not peek out of the bobsled like the pilot, walked off the ice under their own power.
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British bobsledder Greg Hackett told BBC Sport that his thoughts were with his rivals and reminded casual fans that it is a “dangerous sport.”
The bobsleds are going as fast as 90 miles per hour, according to the broadcast.
“It’s a serious thing,” Hackett said. “We’re here to compete, that’s one thing. But we’re all mates. We all get along internationally, so you never want to see anyone go down. And their Olympic experience ending that way, no one wants to see that either.”
Austrian teammate Daniel Bertschler told reporters their team crashed at the turn during training, too.
“The entry wasn’t perfect, so there wasn’t much we could do towards the end,” he said. “We were glad that the Austrian Olympic Committee doctor was there immediately and took care of us.”
