A SUSSEX Olympian has been selected to ride bobsleigh for Team GB at the Winter Olympics in Beijing next month.

Brad Hall, 31 from Crawley, will compete in the two-man and four-man events and said the team is "full of confidence" after a strong season so far.

Brad and his team have won six medals on the World Cup circuit and silver at an Olympic test event in October last year.

He said: "I'm honoured to be selected to represent Team GB again and I know the rest of my crew feel exactly the same.

"We've had a great season so far and we're hoping to carry that momentum into the Games.

"We said at the start of the season that we wanted to be competing with the best in the world on a consistent basis and we've shown that we can do that.

"The boys have regularly been among the best starters in the world, too, and we're heading to Beijing full of confidence.

"We're at the business end of the season and it's now all about giving it everything we've got at the Olympics, knowing that we've got a realistic chance of coming home with a medal."

Beijing will be Brad's second Winter Olympics, having also competed in the Pyeongchang Games in South Korea in 2018.

Brad's journey to Beijing started with athletics but, after getting several injuries, he sought a new sport to try out.

He said: "I was quite a big powerful guy and quick off the mark, so a lot of people were suggesting I try bobsleigh."

Brad was selected for a UK Sport Talent ID programme and was initially sent to skeleton, another winter Olympic sport where a person rides a small sled down a frozen track.

He said: "I did that for about a week - I couldn't keep my head off the ice and I was getting smashed around the corners."

"They said 'this probably isn't for you and then they sent me off to bobsleigh - since then, I've loved the sport, I've been good at it and I'm now heading for my second Olympic Games."

Brad said: "It is always great to represent Team GB at an Olympic Games and know that, with all the hard work, we've finally reached our goal and hopefully we end up with some medals."

The Games in Beijing kick off from February 4, and will mark the first time that a city has hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.

However, the Games have been the subject of controversy over China's record on human rights, with the UK announcing a diplomatic boycott.

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