Great Britain target podium finish at World Championships
BySportsbeat
Updated 22/01/2016 at 21:37 GMT
Great Britain performance director Gary Anderson says his team are desperate to claim a medal at the upcoming World Championships after coming desperately close in recent years.
Great Britain's two-men bobsleigh pilot Lamin Deen (Reuters)
Image credit: Reuters
The Brits have experienced fifth-place finishes at the last two global gatherings, missing out on a bronze medal by just seven hundredths of a second in St Moritz three years ago.
This time they have demonstrated their intent for a podium finish after announcing their provisional squad for next month's edition in Austria.
Performance director Gary Anderson and head coach Dominik Scherrer have chosen a mix of youth and experience for the squad that will compete in Igls between February 12 and 21.
Lamin Deen will pilot GB1 in the 4-man alongside John Baines, Joel Fearon and Andy Matthews, while double Olympian John Jackson pilots Bruce Tasker, Ben Simons and new recruit Tremayne Gilling.
GB have also entered two 2-man crews, with only Tasker and Fearon doubling up.
In the women's competition, Winter Youth Olympics silver medallist Mica McNeil will lead the British challenge alongside Natalie DeRatt.
Summer Olympic gold medal winning sprinter Mark Lewis-Francis will be on standby for the men's team just four months after he took up the sport.
"We have come so close to a medal over the past few years and we are determined to take that next step this time around," said Anderson.
"We have named a strong squad, with as much depth in there as ever before, and we are genuinely excited about the prospect of challenging the world's best on the big stage.
"Selecting the squad was tougher than ever before.
"We now have two 4-man pilots who have finished in the top five at a World Championships and we have three ADP pilots all pushing hard to drive the 2-man sleds as well as racing as brakemen in the 4-man crews.
"Mark Lewis-Francis has done exceptionally well since joining us in September and it was a tough call to leave him out on this occasion.
"Although he isn't involved in Igls, he will still play an important role in the rest of the season and is on track to push for a place in the next Olympic team in Pyeongchang."
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