Dangerous mishap: Baumgartner narrowly misses out on a European Championship medal

This was something previously only seen in the Disney cult film "Cool Runnings". During the four-man bobsleigh World Cup race on the legendary natural ice track in St. Moritz, all three crew members of US pilot Kristopher Horn crashed while pushing.

11 January 2026

From: fop

Slipping and sliding, the Americans could only watch as Horn steered the 210-kilogram sled alone toward the finish line. Due to the lack of weight, he practically hurled himself down the 1.722-meter-long slope in the Swiss Engadine.

At the finish line, he had to react lightning-fast. He looked back and saw no pushers. With lightning speed, he slid back three positions from the steering ropes to the brakeman's position and brought his large sled to a stop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWhRsf-pblo

He spontaneously received applause from the other bobsledders and the fans along the track. The dangerous situation had a happy ending. According to the rules, the team was disqualified because all four occupants must cross the finish line.

Baumgartner in 4th place

Aside from that scary moment, Patrick Baumgartner delivered a strong sporting result. On the world's only natural ice track, the quartet consisting of the pilot from Pfalzen, Eric Fantazzini, Robert Mircea, and Lorenzo Bilotti finished in fourth place. In the end, they missed out on bronze by eleven hundredths of a second.

Bobsled pilot Patrick Baumgartner (front) is having the best season of his career so far. © APA / EXPA/ JOHANN GRODER

At the sixth stop of the World Cup season, the Azzurri shared this position with the Austrian team led by Markus Treichl. Baumgartner had already secured a third place in Innsbruck and three fourth places in Lillehammer (twice) and now also in St. Moritz.

German double victory

German Adam Ammour secured the victory with a time of 2:09,51 minutes. His compatriot Johannes Lochner followed in second place, just seven hundredths of a second behind, while Swiss Michael Vogt completed the podium, 55 hundredths of a second back.

The second Italian team, consisting of Mattia Variola, Fabio Batti, Mario Lambrughi, and Alex Verginer from South Tyrol, failed to qualify for the second run. The quartet missed the cut by just one position.