Shrewsbury bobsleigh ace Ben Simons insists Winter Olympics selection 'bittersweet'

Simons, from Shrewsbury, went to both Sochi and PyeongChang at a time when just qualifying for the Games was an achievement for British bobsleigh teams - but for Beijing, his own 4-man team did not make cut.

But the call eventually came when Simons, 35, was selected as the alternate athlete for in-form Brad Hall’s crew alongside Taylor Lawrence, Nick Gleeson and Greg Cackett.

Simons said: “This is a bittersweet moment, because ultimately my four-man team didn’t actually qualify after a tough season.

“But I’m very proud and privileged to be selected as alternate athlete for Brad’s team who do qualify, so my position now is to support these guys as best I can with the experience I have.

“I need to do the business now and try and come back with a medal.”

Since picking up the sport when seeing a poster at Cardiff Metropolitan University, Simons has seen bobsleigh both attract UK Sport funding and lose it - something he feels passionate about regaining.

“I think one of the big things for us is we got dropped from UK Sport funding, not long after the PyeongChang Winter Olympics,” said Simons.

“I came into this sport in 2012 as it had just gained funding, I was then part of teams that maintained funding over the next few years, so to come and see it drop off completely after PyeongChang was quite painful.”

But Simons believes that his new crew have what it takes to go to Beijing and return with a medal.

Hall’s team have enjoyed the most successful British World Cup season since the 1990s and Shropshire star Simons added: “I’m very confident in these guys, I always say with bobsleigh, you need a perfect storm.

“This crew does have that perfect storm and I'm just hoping to be part of that puzzle essentially as the alternate to support the guys, to come and do the business and get a medal.

“They’ve had the best form that I’ve seen from a British crew in my career, getting multiple medals on this World Cup circuit so they've got a very good chance.”

“Going to these Games is also the perfect opportunity to pass the torch to the next generation.”

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