Winter Olympics 2026 bobsleigh: Johannes Lochner’s Germany team lead four-man, Austrian pilot Jakob Mandlbauer taken to hospital with neck injury
Johannes Lochner steered his German sled into a commanding lead in the four-man bobsleigh on Saturday, 21 February, after the opening two heats were momentarily delayed following a bad crash for the Austrian team.
Pilot Jakob Mandlbauer required treatment for almost 20 minutes on the ice and was carried off on a stretcher after the Austrian sled turned over in the second heat at the Cortina Sliding Centre.
Mandlbauer was taken to hospital for further examination after suffering neck pain, the Austrian team confirmed, while his teammates were checked at the track.
When the competition resumed, Lochner solidified his prospects of winning a second Olympic gold of Milano Cortina 2026 alongside Georg Fleischhauer.
Lochner and Fleischhauer won the two-man title together and when joined by four-time Olympic champion Thorsten Margis and Jorn Wenzel in their four-man sled the quartet posted a combined time of 1:48.61 in the opening two heats on Saturday.
That was 0.43 seconds quicker than the German sled piloted by Francesco Friedrich, who is the two-time reigning champion in this event.
Friedrich has relinquished his two-man title to Lochner already in Cortina, and the 35-year-old will have to go better than his compatriot in the final two heats on Sunday, the final day of the Games.
A German 1-2-3 is on the cards with Adam Ammour’s sled (+0.59) third fastest, while just 0.3 seconds separate third from eighth, with two sleds from Switzerland, and one each for Italy, Team GB and the Republic of Korea also in contention to make the podium.
