An Australian bobsleigh athlete has been taken to hospital after a crash during training on the same course where a Georgian luger died, prompting international criticism of the track.
Brakeman Duncan Harvey was taken by ambulance to a medical center in Whistler, complaining of back pain after a training accident late Wednesday.
Medical scans came back clear, and both he and driver Chris Spring were planning to be back at the track Thursday, Australian Olympic Committee spokesman Mike Tancred told The Associated Press.
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"All clear," Tancred said. "They plan to be back out there."
Several incidents at course
They were one of seven sleds to crash during the opening session of bobsleigh training at the Whistler track, the same course where Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died last Friday when he lost control of his sled and slammed into a trackside steel pole at nearly 145km/h.
Spring and Harvey toppled over around Curve 5 and actually came out of the sled, ending up sliding along the chassis all the way to the bottom of the course, Tancred said.
Spring had some bleeding inside his mouth, but was otherwise fine.
Harvey was conscious, but because he complained of back pain, emergency workers opted to have his back checked out at the Whistler Polyclinic, where he was cleared hours later to resume competition.
'Scandalous, a joke'
Germany's bobsleigh chief on Thursday condemned attempts to stifle criticism of the Olympic Games track after a series of high-speed crashes prompted two more safety concerns.
German bobsleigh federation director of sport Thomas Schwab lashed out at the International Bobsleigh Federation's attempts to ban dissent.
"For me, this is scandalous. It's a joke," said Schwab, a former Olympic medallist.
Karl Angerer, the driver of one of the German teams, said the track was dangerous, despite modifications being made in the aftermath of Kumaritashvili's death last week.
"It's a very fast track, it's very dangerous. Personally I'm a bit opposed to these tracks but generally speaking it's fun going down," he said.
IBF defends conditions
Despite the smashes, the International Bobsleigh Federation defended the conditions.
"This is not unusual for day one of the Olympic Games (bobsleigh training)," said a spokesman.
"At Park City in 2002 (for the Salt Lake City Games), there were 17 crashes in the first run of training.
"It's not untypical, it's a late evening and people are eager to get stuck into the Olympic Games. There were not very many teams that were not holding back at the start.
