Cortina d'Ampezzo (Italy) (AFP) – Twenty-four hours after the spectacular turnaround of the French 4-man bob during the Olympic Games in Cortina, pilot Romain Heinrich told AFP that he still feels pain and above all "frustration", but still wants to believe in an ambitious project with a view to the 2030 Olympics at home.

Published on: 02/22/2026 - 12:53

Q: How are you?

A: "Two of us went to the hospital. I had a suspicion of a fractured vertebra that was ultimately invalidated. Nils Blairon started to have symptoms of trauma (concussion, Editor's note). But, today, we are fine. The rest of the team too. It's more muscle stiffness."

Q: What happened?

A: "It's a small driving error in turn 7. It's a tricky corner but I told myself that with the way we're looking, I wasn't going to make a big correction, because I wanted to look for maximum glide. So, I didn't correct enough and this small decision had big consequences."

Q: You then slipped for a long time...

A: "We did at least 800 meters in reverse. Because you have to imagine 600 kilos between the bob and the athletes launched at more than 100 km/h, on a slippery surface. The inertia is enormous. It lasts a long time and it's quite frightening. I quickly hit my head very hard and I felt a shock in my trapezius and my vertebrae. The goal is to stay as long as possible in the body of the bob to be protected by the envelope. Afterwards, it's part of our sport.

Q: Three bobs turned over, was there a track problem?

A: "No connection with the weather, nor with the track. We fell on one of the risky turns. The Austrian fell at turn 9 (the driver Jakob Mandlbauer, hospitalized, editor's note), another risky one. And the fact of not having secured a line, it's because we are in competition. I wanted to do as much speed as possible in that turn. In 4-man bobsleigh, it's the first time I've fallen in competition."

Q: Does that darken the balance sheet?

"In the 2-man bob, we had a very good result. Getting into the top 10 (10th) is already very solid. Where I have a frustration is that in the 4-man training sessions, we immediately understood that we could aim for better than the top-10. And I know that if we had been able to demonstrate that with a view to 2030, it would have been greatly appreciated at all levels."

Q: You came out of your sporting retirement in preparation for the Games in France. Is this called into question?

A: "As soon as I get up, I think about the fall, my body hurts. But, honestly, we, athletes, we move on very quickly to something else. As for our ability to find partners, I don't know. I hope that this will not be an excuse to say that we are not going all out (...). I will respond under three conditions. That my family allows me, that I am in good health and according to our ability to gather sufficient elements, financial or organizational, to be able to talk about performance. Because the Games in France (the Olympic track is in La Plagne, Editor's note), it is obvious that it is not to aim for a 10th place. I would not see the point.

Comments collected by Guillaume KLEIN

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