Greg Rutherford makes GB bobsleigh team ahead of Winter Olympics

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Former Olympic long jump champion Greg Rutherford has been selected for the GB bobsleigh team ahead of the Winter Olympics.

Rutherford is aiming to become the first British athlete to win a medal at both the summer and winter Olympics and the 34-year-old’s hopes have been boosted by the news, which was revealed by the Guardian, that he has been included in GB’s five-man squad.

The GB team still have to qualify for the Beijing Games, which take place in February 2022, and Rutherford will now train ahead of his competitive debut at a World Cup event in Austria in November.

The London 2012 gold medallist and Rio 2016 bronze medal winner earned his place following a series of tests at the British bobsleigh and skeleton headquarters in Bath and joins Lamin Deen, Joel Fearon, Ben Simons and Toby Olubi in the provisional squad.

Rutherford retired from athletics in 2018 and embarked on his ambition to compete at the Winter Olympics earlier this year.

In an interview with The Independent in July, Rutherford was confident that would make the team despite suffering a couple of injuries this year.

“I have no questions about the amount of power I can still produce and how strong I can be,” he said.

“I think I can be one of the strongest, if not the strongest on the team. But you need to be efficient actually moving the sled so I need to learn the technique, I need to get that absolutely nailed, and if I can then I’ll have as good a chance as anybody to make the team.”

Rutherford will be expected to compete in the four-man bobsleigh event, rather than the two-man.