Hall and Cackett make British bobsleigh history

History boys Brad Hall and Greg Cackett went where no Brits have gone before and won two-man Bobsleigh World Cup silver in Igls, Austria.

It was just the pair’s third race together and will go down in British sliding folklore, yielding their nation’s first-ever World Cup medal in the event.

The Bath-based duo missed the podium in La Plagne a week ago by 18 hundredths of a second – Britain’s best result this millennium - but weren’t to be denied in the Austrian Alps.

"It's an absolutely incredible feeling," said Hall, who alongside Cackett has been laid low with illness in recent days.

"Greg and I have been feeling under the weather but we managed to pull out two consistent runs and to be stood on the podium with a silver medal around our necks is really, really special.

"To be rewriting history at this stage of our careers is amazing."

Hall and Cackett clocked 52.22s to sit third at the halfway stage and reached a top speed of 121kph in a 52.39s second run to guarantee a medal.

Their combined time, 1:44.61, was a hundredth ahead of Germany’s Richard Oelsner and Tobias Schneider and 0.74s behind all-conquering Germans Francesco Freidrich and Thorsten Margis.

"I couldn't believe it when we were in the leader's box watching Oelsner's run," said Hall.

"Seeing them bleeding time all the way down the track, our eyes were lighting up and we were on the edge of our seats waiting for them to cross that finish line."

The 29-year-old driver Hall has now clocked personal bests in his last six two-man races and has broken through this season after finishing ninth, eighth and sixth in the final three World Cup races of 2019.

The former decathlete finished joint fourth at the 2019 World Championships alongside Nick Gleeson, Britain’s best two-man result for 53 years.

Cackett has recently moved back to sliding after switching to cycling following the PyeongChang Olympics.

"We've still got a lot to improve on in the start - which is a good thing as it shows we can keep getting better," said Hall.

"Showing this level of consistency and, hopefully, keeping on pushing for these medals, will be brilliant for us in the build-up to the Beijing Olympics in a couple of years' time."

Sportsbeat 2020