KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia – USA-1 driver Elana Meyers crashed her bobsled Friday on her first trip down the Sanki Sliding Center track. No one was injured.
With alternate brakeman Katie Eberling behind her instead of Lauryn Williams, the medal favorite tipped her sled at the bottom part of the world's longest track. Meyers and Eberling made their second training run without incident.
"That is not a fun ride," Meyers said with a laugh afterward. "BMW sleds are awesome when they are on all four (runners). They are not fun when they are on their heads. I was the first one to crash one, and now that we've gotten that out of the way, it withheld the test. It's amazingly OK and we were still fast in the second run and it's good to go."
Myers explained she was late going into the 16th of 17 curves, touched the sled on the side wall and crashed.
"It shot straight down and tossed me over," she said. "Not fun."
Following the mishap, Meyers and Eberling were checked by members of the U.S. team's medical staff and cleared to make their second official practice run. They completed that trip in 58.11 seconds, one of the fastest times.
A push athlete on the 2010 team, Meyers has crashed plenty of times before.
"The cool thing about bobsled is that there's that danger and that risk in every single corner," she said. "I get to say, 'I crashed, I took it to the face, but I'm going to face my fear, go back up there and do it again. I'm going to go through curve 16 and I'm going to nail it.'"
The women's bobsled competition begins next week and the Americans have a chance to win multiple medals.
The crash came a day after a track worker was struck by a speeding bobsled and broke both his legs. The unidentified Russian man underwent surgery and is doing well, Sochi organizers said.
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