Bobsled Accident In Sochi Leaves Worker With 2 Broken Legs And Possible Concussion

An accident during the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, left a worker with two broken legs and a suspected concussion on Thursday, the Associated Press wrote. The accident happened just before two-man bobsled training was scheduled to begin.

The unnamed worker was on the track when he was struck by a sled speeding to the finish line at the Sanki Sliding Center. The worker reportedly needed to be airlifted to a nearby hospital to be treated.

“We still do not know why he [the worker] was in this zone and exactly what happened,” International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach told the Associated Press. “The information we have so far is that he has a broken leg and maybe a concussion. We are following up on this matter.”

The first training session was delayed for more than 30 minutes while a maintenance team fixed a light fixture that was broken during the crash and cleaned up other debris.

Safety was taken into consideration when the track at Sanki Sliding Center was being built. Nodar Kumarishtavili died in an accident hours before the opening ceremonies at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Aside from the unnamed worker’s injuries, the track has been relatively safe. U.S skeleton racer Katie Uhlaender complimented it after the first two heats of the woman’s bobsled competition: "To be honest, the ice [is] phenomenal," she said. "It’s better than it was in training and whoever they got working on the ice, kudos, because they are doing Olympic level work on the track. It is fast and it’s fun."

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