Brad Hall steers British Bobsleigh to first World Championships four-man medal in 84 years as Bath-based sliders continue stellar season
Great Britain are celebrating a first four-man bobsleigh World Championship medal since the Second World War after University of Bath-based Brad Hall, Arran Gulliver, Taylor Lawrence and Greg Cackett won a stunning silver in St Moritz.
The British quartet clocked a combined time of 4:20.3 over four consistent runs to finish tied with Latvia’s Emils Cipulis and 0.69 seconds behind Germany’s double Olympic Champion Francesco Friedrich, who claimed his fifth successive World title.
“It’s an incredible achievement & I’m really proud of the team,” said Hall, who becomes just the fourth male pilot to lead Great Britain to a World Championship medal and the first since Frederick McEvoy piloted the team to silver in Italy in 1939.
“It’s been a hell of a long time since a four-man crew has won a World Championship medal. To be the ones who have bucked that trend is pretty special. We knew we could make the podium but we still had to go out there and perform, and we did that – just like we’ve done all season, to be honest. It’s an awesome result.
“We would have loved to win gold, and we knew we had that in us, but we have to be happy with silver – it’s a historic result and not something many people would have given us a chance of doing a couple of years ago.
“The guys have been exceptional all week and all season, and so have Graham (head coach Graham Richardson) and Leon (reserve athlete Leon Greenwood). We’ve got a really talented group with a great work ethic and spirit and I love being a part of it.”
BRAD HALL, ARRAN GULLIVER, TAYLOR LAWRENCE & GREG CACKETT ARE SILVER MEDALLISTS AT THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 🥈🥈🥈🥈
The lads make history by being the 1st 4-man team to MEDAL in a World Championships in 84 YEARS ‼️#teamgb #silvermedal #stmoritz pic.twitter.com/pVa20wb5lX
— GBBobsleighSkeleton (@The_BBSA) February 5, 2023
Sunday’s podium placing saw the University of Bath-based British Bobsleigh & Skeleton Association finish the 2023 World Championships with four medals, adding to Matt Weston’s magnificent men’s skeleton gold plus silver and bronze in the mixed team skeleton.
It is a first medal in either men’s bobsleigh discipline since 1966. Only female athletes Nicola Minichiello and Jackie Gunn (silver in Calgary in 2005) and then Minichiello and Gillian Cooke (gold in Lake Placid in 2009) have seen the Union flag raised at a World Championship medal ceremony in the last 57 years.
Hall and his team have now taken their medal tally this term into double figures, adding to their European Championships gold and eight other medals on the World Cup circuit. They are joint top of the overall season standings with Friedrich going into the final races of the year, a double header on Saturday and Sunday in Innsbruck, Austria.
The British Bobsleigh & Skeleton Association is based at the University of Bath, which is home to the UK’s only outdoor push-start training track. Click here to find out more.
