GB men's bobsleigh crash out again

Britain suffered another crash in the bobsleigh as the men's four-man crew dropped out of contention with a tumble at the notorious turn 13 in Whistler.

John Jackson, Dan Money, Henry Nwume and Allyn Condon were on course to set a quick time in their second run only to lose balance at the crucial time.

They were one of six crews to crash - all at turn 13 - in the first two heats at the Whistler Sliding Centre.

Britain had been in 11th place after the first run, but are now in 21st.

The United States lead the way at the halfway stage, with Canada in second place and Germany in third.

Track record puts USA1 in control

But any hopes of a medal have disappeared for a British crew that had made a blistering start to their second attempt and had looked in good shape to move into the top 10 until a mistake at turn 11 ruined their chances.

The sled, travelling at high speed, became increasingly difficult to control before toppling onto its side at turn 13.

"It's a big heavy sled and when it doesn't want to react it just does its own thing," said Jackson.

"It's not very nice at all. Your shoulders are on the ice, your head's on the ice, you're banging into walls hard and the whole sled weighs 630 kg so you've got more than half a ton coming down on top of your head at 70-80 mph.

"It's not nice at all but it's something we've come to learn and get used to."

The quartet did at least manage to cross the finish line with all four athletes inside the sled, meaning they avoid disqualification and can come back on Saturday - if they want to - for the third and fourth runs.

We're already laughing and joking about it and we'll definitely be back on Saturday Britain's John Jackson

And Jackson said they planned to return on Saturday and do their utmost to climb as high as possible up the leaderboard.

"We're fine, a couple of bumps and bruises and obviously very disappointed," added Jackson, who threw his helmet on the floor in frustration after getting out of the sled.

"But we're already laughing and joking about it and we'll definitely be back on Saturday.

"We've looked at the sled and it doesn't seem too damaged, only a few specks on the paintwork.

"We'll have a final look when we get back to the garage and just go from there."

It will be doubly frustrating for Jackson and Money, who crashed out of the two-man bobsleigh in their opening heat.

Safety concerns have been a feature of the Vancouver Games following the death of a Georgian luger at the same track on the eve of the Olympics.

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