A professional bobsled driver and a Bountiful woman were hospitalized when a bobsled carrying the pair and two others overturned at the Utah Olympic Park Saturday afternoon.
Both the bobsledder, Randy Will, 37, and passenger Sylvia Mabey, 56, were taken by ambulance to Salt Lake hospitals, said Shawn Winder, Park City Fire District community relations officer.
"The driver was definitely the worse off of the two," Winder said.
Paramedics reported the driver's helmet was cracked from the accident, Winder said. "Both of them were transported primarily because of loss of consciousness," she said.
Neither injury was expected to be life-threatening, she said.
Late Saturday, Will was in stable condition at University Hospital. Mabey also was in stable condition at LDS Hospital and was "being evaluated for possible head injuries," hospital spokesman Jess Gomez said.
Two other passengers seated farther back on the bobsled declined medical treatment, Winder said.
The bobsled ride was part of the Utah Olympic Park's passenger program.
The program allows paying customers to ride on the 2002 Olympic track. The injuries Saturday are believed to be the first serious ones since the track opened to the public about three years ago, although Salt Lake Organizing Committee President Mitt Romney said Saturday bobsled rollovers without serious injuries are common.
The accident occurred during the first run of the track's afternoon session. The sled went over on turn four after Will was apparently knocked unconscious when his helmet struck a 2-by-4 that was hanging "at face level" over the track, Romney said.
The bobsled was probably going about 50 to 55 mph when the 2-by-4 hit Will's helmet, he said.
The 2-by-4 was part of a temporary shading device used to keep sun from melting the track between the morning and afternoon sessions.
Normally, two or three people are supposed to check the track before the afternoon session to remove the shading devices. Romney said the device that caused the accident was apparently overlooked.
"Beginning immediately, we are instituting a policy where one individual has to walk from the top of the track to the bottom" before beginning a session, Romney said.
"It is SLOC's responsibility and it is our job to ensure the safety of the track," he said. "This was our fault, and we've got to fix it."
Romney said the accident wouldn't likely end the passenger program, and he couldn't say if the accident would result in any reprimands or firings.
E-mail: bsnyder@desnews.com