ALL MILITARY BOBSLEIGH TEAM GOING FOR GOLD AT WINTER OLYMPICS
9 Feb 2006 03:45 PM
The British four-man bobsleigh at the Winter Olympics in Turin will
have an all-military crew, it was announced today. It will comprise
three Royal Marines and an RAF airman.
Eight members of the forty-strong British squad selected to take part
in the 2006 Games are members of the Armed Forces.
Defence Secretary John Reid sent a good luck message to the team
today:
"I'm very proud to see so many Service personnel representing their
country in sporting fields, as they represent their country for the
Armed Forces. The Armed Forces have a habit of producing great
sportspeople. We will be watching the Winter Olympics eagerly and
wish our athletes and the British team all the best of luck."
The two-man bob will be driven by Royal Marine Lee Johnston with RAF
Senior Aircraftman, Dan Humphries operating the brakes.
Lee's brother, Captain Karl Johnston and Marine Martin Wright, both
also Royal Marines, join them in the four-man sled.
The Army provides half of the two-women's sled in Corporal Jackie
Davies. A year ago Jackie and partner Nicola Minichiello became the
first British women to win a bobsleigh medal when they finished
second at the World Championships in Calgary, Canada, in February
2005.
The athletes are now at training camps in the Alps making final
preparations for what they hope will be the experience of a lifetime.
Commodore Paul Docherty, Chair of the Combined Services Sports Board,
explained why the Armed Forces may have supplied so many members of
the team:
"Sport in the armed forces is very much part of our core business. We
train for war so there must be a huge desire to succeed. We train for
action in mountains, snow and ice, as well as jungles. If you take
the biathlon for example, manoeuvring around in snow at speed and
shooting is all part of military business."
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. The 2006 Winter Olympics Games begin in Turin, Italy, on Friday 10
February and run until 26 February. The two-man bob races begin on 18
February; the four-man event starts on 24 February; and the women's
races begin on 20 February.
2. The members of the Armed Forces selected to represent Great
Britain comprise three soldiers, three Royal Marines and two members
of the Royal Air Force. They are:
Army
* Corporal Jackie Davies, 28, Royal Signals, based in Tidworth,
originally from Birmingham: Women's two-man bobsleigh
* Corporal Tom Clemens, 29, 1st Battalion Devon & Dorset Light
Infantry, based at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire: Biathlon
* Corporal Emma Fowler, 26, 1 Logistic Regiment, based in Gutersloh,
Germany whose family is from Bridgwater, Somerset: Biathlon
Royal Marines
* Marine Lee Johnston, 33, based Commando Training Centre, Lympstone,
Devon, from Taunton in Somerset. Lee was voted Combined Services
Sportsman of the Year 2004: two-man & four-man bobsleigh
* Captain Karl Johnston, 26, 42 Commando Royal Marines, based
Plymouth, from Whitby, North Yorkshire: four-man bobsleigh
* Marine Martin Wright, 31, 42 Commando Royal Marines, based
Plymouth, from Northampton: four-man bobsleigh
RAF
* Flying Officer Roger Cruikshank, 22, based RAF Leuchars, Fife and
from Banchory, Aberdeenshire: Roger competes in the Downhill on 12
February and the 'Super G' event six days later.
* Senior Aircraftman Dan Humphries, 26, from Newport in Wales, based
RAF Headquarters Personnel and Training Command, RAF Innsworth,
Gloucestershire: two-man & four-man bobsleigh
3. Since the Games began in 1924, Armed Forces personnel have won a
gold, a silver and two bronze medals. The Army-RAF two-man bob team
of Robin Dixon and Tony Nash won gold in the Winter Olympics 1964;
Alex Coomber of the RAF won silver in the skeleton bob in Salt Lake
City in 2002; the first Forces Winter Olympic medal was won by the
Army in 1924; and Dean Ward and Sean Olsson of the Army and Paul
Attwood of the Royal Marines won bronze in the four-man bob in 1998.
4. Further information and photographs of the athletes are available
at www.mod.uk, www.army.mod.uk and www.raf.mod.uk.