Team GB face uphill task for four-man bobsleigh medal

Team GB face an uphill task to win an Olympic medal in the four-man bobsleigh as they sit seventh at the halfway point in a race where three teams crashed.

Pilot Brad Hall had showcased why the British team are medal contenders in Cortina with a brilliant first run of 54.39 seconds, which placed them third.

But he was left looking stunned and emotional after they dropped off the pace in the second, losing four places in the standings.

They now sit 0.23secs off the bronze medal position before Sunday’s podium-deciding heats.

The three German teams remain the ones to beat and they occupy the top three spots with Johannes Lochner, who won two-man gold earlier this week, leading the charge with an overall time of 1:48:61.

There was a long delay to competition at the Cortina sliding track after Austria suffered a crash during heat two, with one of the athletes treated for a lengthy period on the ice before being stretchered off.

Action resumed after about a 20-minute delay but, with the track now slower because of the rising temperature, the British team were unable to find the speed of their first run and currently sit on 1:49:43.

Hall finished 12th in the two-man earlier this week, but said he is targeting a first medal in 12 years with his four-man team.

Team Hall finished sixth four years ago in Beijing and the last Olympic cycle has been a fruitful one.

Hall is the most successful British men’s pilot in World Cup history with 30 race medals, and guided his team to a first world championship medal since 1939 when they took silver in Switzerland in 2023.

That came after a first-ever European title in Altenberg earlier that year.

Following that success, the sport received a boost in funding from UK Sport, having been cut in 2019 following poor results at Pyeongchang 2018.

Training in Cortina has not been perfect, with the team clocking times outside the top five on five of the six runs.

Things looked promising after run one and the team fist-pumped and banged the sled in celebration as they came up the finish straight.

But mistakes in run two proved costly and their time of 55.04secs was only the 12th-quickest in run two, leaving medal hopes hanging by a thread.

Team GB have not won an Olympic bobsleigh medal since Sochi 12 years ago, where the four-man team won bronze.