Bruce Tasker is adamant the British four-man bobsleigh team that finished just shy of a medal at the World Championships will remain unchanged for next year’s Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Tasker joined forces with Joel Fearon and Stuart Benson to push pilot John Jackson at the World Championships in St Moritz back in February as they finished 0.07sconds off third in fifth.
That marked an improvement of five places from the quartet’s first World Championships last year while as a four they claimed four top-six finishes on the World Cup during the season.
Andrew Matthews, Ben Simons, Jim Galvin and Henry Nwume, who earned selection for Vancouver 2010, all also featured in Jackson’s British No.1 four-man sled during the World Cup season.
Tasker welcomes the competition, which continues to grow with sprinter Craig Pickering partnering Jackson in the two-man last season, but believes the four from the worlds won’t be changed.
“I don’t think the GB squad has ever been as strong. There is so much depth in it at the moment and I think we are really solid as a crew and we work really well together,” said Tasker.
“I don’t see the team changing much at the moment but we always welcome healthy competition, we relish it and I think we are the kind of guys who would take any competition as it spurs us on.
“I think we are in a really strong position, we have a good plan about how we are going to attack the Games but it’s an exciting time to already be looking forward to the Olympics.
“I think we have a great team behind us working on all aspects and it’s great to see all avenues being explored and I can’t wait to see it all unfold.
“Personally, I can only commit entirely and wholly. I’m in a really good position where I don’t have to work for a living so this will be my first year of professional sport so I can really concentrate on it.
“And I’m looking forward to absolutely throwing myself into this and utilising all the facilities we have at our disposal and making sure that come the Olympics I am the best guy for the job.”
© Sportsbeat 2013