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American bobsledder Kris Horn avoided serious injury after riding alone down the St. Moritz course in a four-man sled at speeds of around 75 mph.
The three teammates — Ryan Rager, Hunter Powell and Caleb Furnell — failed to load into the sled after Horn, the driver, got in first. It is standard practice for the driver to enter the sled first.
The four-man sled is designed for balanced weight distribution, with a brakeman responsible for stopping the sled at the finish line.
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Kristopher Horn and Carsten Vissering of the USA in action during the men’s 2-Bob World Cup, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, 10 January 2026. (Mayk Wendt/Keystone via AP)
Rager seemed to stumble first, setting off a domino effect. Powell appeared to be thrown violently against the track wall and hit his back on the hard-packed icy surface after he failed to load the sled and Furnell was unable to reach his position.
None of the American shooters were seriously injured, and all X-rays taken came back negative, the team said.
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“A little sore,” Powell told The Associated Press. “I should be fine in a few days.”
Horn raced down the track but still reached high speeds during a run that lasted just over a minute. He guided the sled across the finish line, then moved backwards and pulled the brake levers himself.
Kristopher Horn, Carsten Vissering, Martin Christofferson and Hunter Powell of the United States compete in heat three of the four-man bobsled at the 2025 IBSF World Championships at Mt. Van Hoevenberg on March 15, 2025 in Lake Placid, NY (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Athletes and coaches from several national teams rushed to the finish line to check on Horn when the sled came to a stop. Horn, whose bobsleigh career began as a brakeman, waved to nearby television cameras to signal that he was uninjured.
Hunter Church, Joshua Williamson, Kristopher Horn and Charlie Volker of Team United States pause as they finish their slide during the Four-Man Bobsled Heat Four on Day 16 of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at the National Sliding Center on February 20, 2022 in Yanqing, China. (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Horn also crashed during the two-man World Cup race on Saturday. His brakeman for that event, Carsten Vissering, was injured and could not line up in the top four on Sunday. Rager took Vissering’s place on the four-man sled.
There is one World Cup race weekend left before USA Bobsled and Skeleton selects its team for next month’s Milan Cortina Olympics.
