Great Britain’s four-man crew have charted a steady trajectory on the world stage since pilot John Jackson steered them to 17th at Vancouver 2010.
In 2011 Jackson won gold and two bronze medals in the Europa Cup and along with crew Stuart Benson, Bruce Tasker and Joel Fearon, he finished fifth at last year’s World Championships in St Moritz, just 0.07 seconds off a medal.
Jackson then travelled to the World Cup in Sochi, which doubled as the Olympic test event, and recorded another top-five finish, his joint best performance at that level.
The performance capped Jackson’s most consistent year with seven top-ten finishes. Paula Walker has become the first-choice British women’s driver after the retirement of Nicola Minichiello, who won the world title in 2009 with Gillian Cooke.
Walker finished 11th on her Olympic debut in Vancouver and along with Rebekah Wilson won the world junior title one year later in Park City, Utah.