The four-man bobsled competition began at Cortina Sliding Centre on Saturday with Runs 1 and 2 complete. 

RESULTS

Halfway through the final sliding event of Milan Cortina 2026, there isn’t much of a surprise at the top. German two-man gold medalist Johannes Lochner leads the field, 0.43 seconds ahead of the next-fastest challenger and fellow German Francesco Friedrich.

Friedrich is the defending repeat gold medalist in the event, but Lochner is well on his way to unseating his fellow countryman after doing so in the two-man event.

Germany regained its chance at a medal sweep after Adam Ammour's sled moved up into 3rd with a clutch second run. They were in 5th after Run 1, just behind Great Britain and Switzerland.

It was a day of mixed emotions as Run 2 was initially delayed following a heavy crash involving the Austrian sled piloted by Jakob Mandlbauer. 

Mandlbauer and Austria were 21st after Run 1. Starting 5th on Run 2, the sled flipped and slid on its side through the middle portion of the track and stopped just short of the finish line.

The crash was not shown on the broadcast, but teammates Daniel Bertschler, Sebastian Mitterer, and Daiyehan Nichols-Bardi were seen exiting the sled unharmed.

Medics tended to Mandlbauer for about 10 minutes before the competition resumed. Reuters later reported that the pilot was "cleared of suffering any serious injury" after being checked at the hospital.

Officials gather for the medical treatment of Pilot Jakob Mandlbauer of Austria while teammates Daniel Bertschler, Sebastian Mitterer and Daiyehan Nichols-Bardi watch after a crash while competing in Run 2 of the four-man bobsled event.

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Towards the end of the session, the French sled piloted by Romain Heinrich and his crew suffered a very similar fate to the Austrians. This time, the crash was shown on the broadcast as Heinrich appeared to tip over after passing the third interval in the middle of the track. The sled then skidded on its side for several seconds through the final stretch of the circuit. 

All four men made it out of the sled safely and walked back under their own power.

"When you're upside down, often the trajectory of the sled is all over the place," Heinrich told reporters after the session. "It hits the wood, it hits the other side. When it's like that, you try and protect yourself inside the shell as much as possible.

"We're disappointed. I really want to step back a bit. This doesn't take away from the great season we had, even the preparation we had up until today's competition," he said.

The final runners of the session, Trinidad & Tobago had a shaky first few corners before their sled flipped onto its side at a similar portion of the track to Austria and France. Like the latter, all four members of the crew made it out fairly quickly and appeared uninjured.

There had not been a crash in sliding sport competition at Milan Cortina 2026 before Saturday.

Two sleds represented Team USA on Saturday. Kris Horn piloted the higher-seeded sled, which started 11th on Run 1. He and his crew made an impressive jump up to 8th place, just 0.21 seconds out of medal position. They sit in 9th place ahead of the final day of competition. 

Because he did not compete in the final World Cup race of the season, Frank Del Duca’s sled started dead last on Run 1. 

But Del Duca and his crew proved they had more pace than their starting slot showed. They jumped from 27th to 14th on Run 1, just over six tenths of a second out of medal position and 0.43 seconds behind Horn in 8th. They went 8th-fastest on Run 2 and sit in 12th place ahead of the final runs.

Just four bobsled runs remain at Milan Cortina 2026. After the two-woman event wraps up later on Saturday, the four-man action will conclude beginning Sunday at 4 a.m. ET. The final run will follow at 5:50 a.m.