A track worker was struck by a forerunner sled just before bobsled training runs began today and was rushed to the hospital by helicopter with two broken legs.

"The worker was injured, received immediate medical assistance on the track and was then taken to hospital," Sochi organizers said in a statement.

They stressed that standard procedures including a warning signal was given before the sled began to move down the ice.

The worker, only identified as an icemaker, was on the track near the finish line when the sled, reportedly used to assess ice conditions before races, slammed into him.

"The reasons for the icemaker's presence on the track after the warning signal are currently being determined," the Sochi organizer's statement said.

A spokesman for the International Olympic Committee told the Associated Press the man suffered two broken legs, adding that he was conscious and talking.

"We still do not know why he was in this zone and exactly what happened," IOC President Thomas Bach told the AP.

Training runs were suspended due to the incident but resumed later in the day. The accident came a day before the bobsled competitions were set to begin on Friday.

A track worker is loaded into an ambulance after he was injured when a forerunner bobsled hit him just before the start of the men's two-man bobsled training at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Feb. 13, 2014, in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia. Charlie Riedel/AP Photo