Team GB face an uphill task to win an Olympic medal in the four-man bobsleigh as they sit seventh at the halfway point in a race where three teams crashed.

Pilot Brad Hall had showcased why the British team are medal contenders in Cortina with a brilliant first run of 54.39 seconds, which placed them third.

But he was left looking stunned and emotional after they dropped off the pace in the second, losing four places in the standings.

They now sit 0.23secs off the bronze medal position before Sunday’s podium-deciding heats.

“I’m a bit lost for words to be honest,” Hall told BBC Sport.

“We had a really good first run and the second run just got away from us and I honestly don’t really know where. It felt like a nice run to me but we bled some time.”

The three German teams remain the ones to beat and they occupy the top three spots with Johannes Lochner, who won two-man gold earlier this week, leading the charge with an overall time of 1:48:61.

There was a long delay to competition at the Cortina sliding track after Austria suffered a crash during heat two, with one of the athletes treated for a lengthy period on the ice before being stretchered off.

GB’s Greg Crackett said Austrian pilot Jakob Mandlbauer had gone to hospital but was moving and “seemed to be alright”.

Action resumed after about a 20-minute delay but, with the track now slower because of the rising temperature, the British team were unable to find the speed of their first run and currently sit on 1:49:43.

France and Trinidad and Tobago, piloted by Harrogate-born Axel Brown, also suffered crashes but both crews walked away from the sleds.