Bobsleigh Brad recovers from crash to finish 11th in 2-man

Bobsleigh 15 Feb 22

Brad Hall and Nick Gleeson doubled down on their hopes in four-man bobsleigh after their two-man campaign ended with a bump.

The pair came back from a crash in their third run, passing concussion protocols to finish a fourth run and place 11th in their first Olympic event together in Yanqing.

With their first four-man training session alongside Greg Cackett and Taylor Lawrence coming just 12 hours later, the pilot and brakeman were in defiant mood.

"We still have a good chance," said Hall. ‘We have had a good season so far with a few medals in the four-man.

"So there is no reason why we cannot do that this weekend as well. We need to rectify the mistakes, my driving is usually a little bit better in the four-man."

Gleeson said: "We have no doubts that in our mind we can still contend for a medal. No doubt in my mind."

Britain ranked 11th at the halfway stage of the competition and that is where they stayed despite a dramatic second night of racing.

They were a little off the pace at the start but they recovered to hit their top speed of the Games so far before coming into trouble on the dreaded corner 13.

That corner of the world’s first 360-degree track has proven tough for all sliders at the Games, particularly lugers.

"It's definitely a tricky one," said Hall. "A lot of people struggle down there, it's quite a sensitive corner. If you're slightly off line then it does affect you a little bit.

"We just had a hit that was too big which pushed us over and up the wall. It was a mistake I haven't made before so it caught me a bit off guard and we went over."

Gleeson, a serving paratrooper, is made of tough stuff and both he and Hall agreed that rough and tumble is an occupational hazard in their sport.

"We've got a few battle scars but nothing majorly concerning," said the 25-year-old.

"When it happens you’re just trying to hold on! It happens to everyone.

"But when it does happen, it is a survival instinct, you hold on and try not to get kicked out of the back. Thankfully it was quite an easy crash, quite short and it was over pretty quick.

"The military gives you that robustness and there was no way I would have let Brad not do that fourth run. No matter what happened.

"I think it was very important to get the confidence back and the mentality."

Hall added: "A crash has happened to every single bobsledder. You have a crash, you've got to go straight back up there and do it again.

"We definitely thought we could have medalled so it’s a bitter pill to swallow but that’s the way it goes sometimes. It’s racing - it’s supposed to be exciting."