A strong medal contender was among two Swiss athletes to withdraw Friday from Olympic bobsled events after scary crashes, on a day when an American bobsledder said the venue where a luger was killed last week could generate speeds that are too dangerous.

Swiss-1 driver Beat Hefti, this season's overall World Cup champion, pulled out of two-man because of a concussion in a crash Wednesday. He hasn't decided whether to race in the four-man, which starts next Friday.

Swiss driver Daniel Schmid, who was not a medal favorite and has had previous problems on the track, pulled out of the two-man and four-man bob for "safety reasons" after two practice crashes.

Swiss brakeman Juerg Egger is treated by paramedics Friday after he and bobsled teammate Daniel Schmid overturned in a training run. AP Photo/Michael Sohn

"It's just so fast," American women's bobsledder Shauna Rohbock said, later adding, "I think they went a little overboard on this track."

On Friday, Schmid's sled overturned during training and his brakeman, Juerg Egger, was taken from the track in an ambulance, then flown to Vancouver for observation. A team doctor said there were no serious injuries.

"He has a cervical spine injury," Christian Schlegel, Switzerland's bobsled doctor, said of Egger. "He can walk, he has no motor function disruption."

A statement said Schmid's decision to drop out was made jointly between the Swiss team and bobsled officials.

At least 11 two-man bobsleds spilled sideways in the first two days of training earlier this week. There was one crash during training Friday night when Esme Kamphuis of the Netherlands tipped over and slid through the final corners. On Saturday, a Russian sled lost control just past the midway point of the course. No injuries were reported.

Rohbock and many of the women's bobsledders who will compete on the track next week got their first on-ice look at the facility during a supplemental training session Friday night.

The extra session was added by international officials earlier this week to help racers familiarize themselves with the demanding track.

The session was added after the death last Friday of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, who was killed when he lost control of his sled in the final curve at the Whistler Sliding Center track and hit a steel pole.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Rohbock, the silver medalist at the 2006 Turin Games, said she has felt the track was too fast since testing out the course for the first time nearly two years ago.

It's so quick, Rohbock said, that women's sleds will "be breaking the men's track record by race time. It's ridiculous."

Rohbock said speeds in the final turns of the 16-curve track were pushing the boundaries of what she thought she could handle.

"I wish everybody knew what we saw at the bottom," Rohbock said. "Your brain almost can't catch up with what your hands need to do. I think at some point it's going to exceed that and that's when problems will happen."