Bronze follows gold for 4-man
Great Britain came close to claiming back-to-back World Cup gold medals in the 4-man bobsleigh as they won bronze in St Moritz on Sunday.
Brad Hall, Taylor Lawrence, Leon Greenwood and Greg Cackett were tied for top spot after the first run before German teams led by Francesco Friedrich and Johannes Lochner pulled clear in Run 2.
Hall, Lawrence, Cackett and Arran Gulliver took gold in Winterberg last weekend for the country’s first World Cup win for two years and it looked as though the team might repeat that feat before they eventually finished third in a 23-strong field.
Hall and co clocked 2 minutes 9.43 seconds at the spiritual home of sliding for their second podium place in three 4-man races this season.
Friedrich finished first in 2.09.13, with Lochner seven hundredths ahead of Hall and home favourite Michael Vogt one hundredth behind the Brits in fourth.
“We always want gold - that’s what we’re always shooting for and that belief is there - but the podium is a good place to be,” said Cackett, whose team started third fastest in both heats.
Our status has risen so much that we’re now disappointed with anything other than a win. Being slightly upset with bronze says a lot about where we’re at as a team.
“It was an awesome day’s racing, with four sleds within one hundredth of a second of each other at the top of the leaderboard after the first run.
“It’s a really exciting time for us: Brad’s driving well, the boys are pushing well and it’s another medal in the bank.”
GB sit second in the overall world rankings with three of the eight 4-man races complete. Hall and his team are 51 point off points leader Friedrich, with Lochner third, Adam Ammour fourth and Austria’s Markus Treichl fifth.
Adam Baird, Austin Milward, Alex Cartagena and Luka Williams finished 18th in a time of 2 minutes 11.69 seconds. They started 17th fastest in 5.20 and then 5.22 seconds in what was their first full two-run race together as a crew.
In the women’s race, Adele Nicoll’s recovery from injury continued as she finished 16th of 24 sleds with Kya Placide.
Nicoll has only just returned to pushing after a foot problem but she drove well in both heats to secure a top two-thirds finish.
Placide was making her first race appearance since March last year when she and Nicoll won World Cup silver in Lake Placid.
Saturday’s women’s monobob race was postponed until the circuit returns to St Moritz later this month but the 2-man bobsleigh did go ahead.
Hall and Cackett finished sixth in a two-run time of 2 minutes 13.32 seconds as German crews dominated the discipline once more.
The British pair were fifth fastest starters in each run in times of 5.16 and then 5.15 seconds as Friedrich and Lochner tied for top sot ahead compatriot Ammour.
Triechl finished fourth and Vogt fifth but Hall still sits third in the overall rankings with five of eight 2-man races now complete.
The GB2 crew of Baird and Milward finished 18th in a time of 2 minutes 15.02 seconds.
They started 5.26 in Run 1 and 5.27 in Run 2, clocking down times of 1.07.53 and then 1.07.49 in 23-year-old Milward’s fifth race in top tier competition.
