THE US men’s bobsled team suffered a domino-style disaster in their Winter Olympics preparations this weekend.
The four-man team avoided serious injury when a scary crash occurred at the start of their run at a World Cup event.
The US men’s bobsled team suffered a nasty crash during a World Cup event at the weekendCredit: YouTube/IBSF Bobsleigh & Skeleton
Driver Kris Horn was the only member of the team that managed to get inside the sledCredit: YouTube/IBSF Bobsleigh & Skeleton
Ryan Rager took a tumble as he tried to hold on to the back of the sledCredit: YouTube/IBSF Bobsleigh & Skeleton
Rager was thrown into the ice and knocked team-mate Hunter Powell to the ground too as Caleb Furnell tried to hold on at the back
Furnell eventually fell off too, leaving Horn guiding the sled by himselfCredit: YouTube/IBSF Bobsleigh & Skeleton
Three of the four Americans took a tumble on the ice and were unable to get into the bobsled, leaving driver Kris Horn on his lonesome for the entire run.
Team-mates Ryan Rager, Hunter Powell and Caleb Furnell all fell to the ground while trying to enter the sled after Rager lost his balance while positioning himself to jump in.
Rager’s tumble knocked Powell to the ground before Furnell later fell off the back of the sled.
The unfortunate start to their run was labelled as an “absolute disaster” by the race announcer.
Incredibly, Horn tackled the entire course alone – navigating the twists and turns without the weight of his three team-mates.
Horn steered the sled as it travelled up to 90MPH.
While he even had to shuffle himself towards the back of the sled to reach the brakes in order to stop himself once he had reached the end of the course – a job normally executed by one of his team-mates.
Horn’s quick thinking was thanks to the fact he got his start in bobsledding as a brakeman, meaning he knew how to slow the sled down before the finish line.
Horn had to manoeuvre to the back of the sled to brake at the end of the course
Thankfully, nobody was seriously injured in the incident.
Bobsled head coach Chris Fogt told the Associated Press: “We were fortunate it wasn’t worse”.
And Powell said he was “a little sore”, adding: “I should be fine in a couple of days”.
The World Cup event was the second-to-last before action gets underway at the 2026 Milano Cortina next month.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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