WINTER OLYMPICS: Sussex star Brad Hall happy with personal best 12th place for Team GB in Two-Man Bobsleigh final

Sussex star Brad Hall and Joel Fearon were both encouraged and disappointed to drop from seventh place after Heat 2 to finish 12th in the Two-Man Bobsleigh final.
18.02.2018 - Bradley Hall & Joel Fearon compete in the Men's two man bobsleigh at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games.
Picture by Andy Ryan/Team GB SUS-180219-13134100218.02.2018 - Bradley Hall & Joel Fearon compete in the Men's two man bobsleigh at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games.
Picture by Andy Ryan/Team GB SUS-180219-131341002
18.02.2018 - Bradley Hall & Joel Fearon compete in the Men's two man bobsleigh at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games. Picture by Andy Ryan/Team GB SUS-180219-131341002

This afternoon’s competition at the Olympic Sliding Centre in PyeongChang in South Korea ended in excitement with Germany and Canada both winning gold medals.

They finished joint-winners after their teams, led by Francesco Friedrich and Justin Kripps ended in a dead heat with identical times at the end of four thrilling runs.

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The excitement reverberated around the centre and gave everyone a lift as the teams from both countries united to congratulate each other to illustrate the highest levels of sporting behaviour.

19.02.2018 - Brad Hall & Joel Fearon compete in the two man bobsleigh event at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympic Games.
Picture by Andy Ryan/Team GB SUS-180219-13123900219.02.2018 - Brad Hall & Joel Fearon compete in the two man bobsleigh event at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympic Games.
Picture by Andy Ryan/Team GB SUS-180219-131239002
19.02.2018 - Brad Hall & Joel Fearon compete in the two man bobsleigh event at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympic Games. Picture by Andy Ryan/Team GB SUS-180219-131239002

Hall, 27, was pleased to gain his highest-ever finish in World competition with a time of just 1.48 seconds behind the two joint-winners at the end of four gruelling runs.

They reached speeds of 138 kph along the fastest part of the difficult ice-track following an all-important five-second push start to the race.

Hall would still have liked to have finished higher after his brilliant performance yesterday which saw the Team GB duo lying in seventh place, just 0.48s seconds behind the leaders at the end of the first two heats.

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Watched on BBCTV by his massive Sussex fan club, Hall was a popular former Crawley AC decathlete who went to Hazelwick School in Crawley as well as Collyer’s Sixth Form College in Horsham.

18.02.2018 - Bradley Hall & Joel Fearon compete in the Men's two man bobsleigh at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games.
Picture by Andy Ryan/Team GB SUS-180219-13125000218.02.2018 - Bradley Hall & Joel Fearon compete in the Men's two man bobsleigh at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games.
Picture by Andy Ryan/Team GB SUS-180219-131250002
18.02.2018 - Bradley Hall & Joel Fearon compete in the Men's two man bobsleigh at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games. Picture by Andy Ryan/Team GB SUS-180219-131250002

He said: “To be in seventh place yesterday, we dropped a few places, but that’s still my best performance on the world stage thus far.

“Hopefully if I can bring the same driving as I did yesterday in two-man to the four-man, we should be in business.

“We made a couple of mistakes on turn two and that cost us a few spots.”

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Hall was in positive mood looking ahead at this weekend’s Four-Man competition.

18.02.2018 - Bradley Hall & Joel Fearon compete in the Men's two man bobsleigh at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games.
Picture by Andy Ryan/Team GB SUS-180219-13130100218.02.2018 - Bradley Hall & Joel Fearon compete in the Men's two man bobsleigh at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games.
Picture by Andy Ryan/Team GB SUS-180219-131301002
18.02.2018 - Bradley Hall & Joel Fearon compete in the Men's two man bobsleigh at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games. Picture by Andy Ryan/Team GB SUS-180219-131301002

He said: “Our four-man we know is fast. We know we can perform well.

“We are one of the fastest starters in the four-man, hopefully I will drive as well as I did yesterday and we know the equipment is good.

“Me and Joel were both a little bit disappointed with our start times but we definitely know that’s not going to happen in the four-man.

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“We always bring it in there. If we drive like I know we can then we will really be up there.”

Hall and Fearon will be back in action in their main event, the Four-Man Bobsleigh which starts in the early hours of Saturday, February 24 at 12.30am, with the gripping final following at 1.40am.