Stunning start to Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games year as British Bobsleigh enjoy most successful World Cup weekend yet in Sigulda
British Bobsleigh got a new Winter Olympic Games year off to a superb start when they won three silver medals as the IBSF World Cup season resumed in Sigulda, Latvia.
Brad Hall was runner-up with Greg Cackett in the two-man bobsleigh on New Year’s Day, then repeated the feat with Nick Gleeson on Sunday only a few hours after Mica McNeill and Adele Nicoll had matched them in the women’s race.
No British squad has ever enjoyed such success across a Bobsleigh World Cup weekend, providing the University of Bath-based team with huge encouragement with just a month to go until the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.
“It’s another great result and another race where we’ve proved we’re serious Olympic medal contenders,” said Hall, who has now won six medals during the 2021-22 season.
“We wanted to be consistently challenging for medals this season and that’s exactly what we’re doing. We feel like we can be in the mix every time we step on the start line and that’s great for our confidence ahead of the Olympics.
“That’s two medals in two days with two different brakemen so that shows that we’ve got real strength across the team. Nick and Greg have been so close to each other in all the testing we do on and off the ice so it’s great to see Nick get his first two-man medal.”
Silver in the women’s race was Britain’s first World Cup medal since January 2009 and a first in 51 races for McNeill, a former Junior World Champion and Youth Olympic silver medallist.
“It’s an absolutely brilliant way to the start the New Year with our first ever World Cup podium finish,” said McNeill, who had raced with Nicoll just twice before Sunday’s competition.
“We’re still on the journey to qualifying for the Olympic Games but we’re feeling optimistic heading into next week’s race.”
New Year’s Eve saw British skeleton athletes return to competition in Sigulda after the Christmas break, with Brogan Crowley and Laura Deas ending 2021 on a high with season’s best performances of 12th and 14th respectively.
Matt Weston produced another solid showing to finish 10th in the men’s race, with Marcus Wyatt and Craig Thompson placing equal 17th and 30th respectively.
The bobsleigh and skeleton circuit now moves to Winterberg in Germany for the penultimate round of the 2021-22 World Cup season.
Beijing 2022 gets under way on 4th February – click here to see the latest news.
Pictures credit: @rekords
