Austrian bobsleigh athlete hospitalised after terrifying Winter Olympics crash

Austrian bobsleigh pilot Jakob Mandlbauer has been transported to a local hospital after being involved in a concerning crash during the Winter Olympics four-man final on Saturday.

Mandlbauer was navigating the second heat of the competition when his sled tipped onto its side on Curve 7.

As seen in the footage below, Mandlbauer and teammates Daniel Bertschler, Sebastian Mitterer and Daiyehan Nichols-Bardi attempted to protect themselves by ducking their heads inside the bobsled.

After an uncomfortable amount of time on the track, the sled eventually came to a halt near the finish line, and medical personnel immediately approached the athletes.

Bertschler, Mitterer and Nichols-Bardi could be seen standing and leaving the scene following checks, but Mandlbauer had to be taken away on a stretcher and was transported to a nearby hospital.

Austrian officials later confirmed that Mandlbauer was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure and had sustained no injury.

Christoph Iglhauser, an Austrian team press member, gave an update to The Athletic. "Jakob is on his way to hospital," he said. "He’s not so bad. It’s just a check. Everyone else is fine. No injury, only a check. He’ll be fine."

As expected, the track's surface was left damaged by the crash. For around 20 minutes, Olympic volunteers could be seen working to repair the surface before the competition could continue in Cortina.

John Jackson, a two-time Olympic bobsledder, gave his take on the situation.

"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," he told the BBC.

"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."

Competition rules state that all four athletes must cross the finish line in a race, even if it tips over.

After their performance in Heat 2 was registered as a DNF, Team Austria have been disqualified from the bobsleigh event.

"I think it's the driver," said the commentary team on TNT Sports. "I think he's so far forward that they can't lift the sled from the wall. The others are all sort of buried in the sled."

The commentator added: "The driver who has his head out most and in a crash, he tries to get out as quickly as he can but you are doing 70, 80, 90 miles an hour and being bounced around."