High hopes: Taylor Lawrence in hunt for Olympic medal for Team GB this weekend
For Team GB, Milano-Cortina 2026 has already exceeded their own expectations and will go down as their most successful Olympic Winter Games.
As for the British bobsleigh team, however, these Olympics have so far been a mixed bag and, after so much British success in the skeleton at these Games, the bobsleigh teams had a tough act to follow.
Royal Marine Commando Taylor Lawrence was only able to manage the first two runs of the two-man bobsleigh event alongside Brad Hall, but after he felt some discomfort in his calf during warm-ups, the decision was made to rest him in the final two heats of the two-man, and he was replaced by his teammate Leon Greenwood.
The Royal Marine missed the majority of the World Cup season to recover from a calf tear in the latter half of 2025.
Speaking on the BFBS Radio Breakfast Show, Lieutenant Commander Lawrence said that the decision was made as a "precautionary measure" in order to be fit and ready for this weekend's four-man.
He said: "Going into the racing, I felt just a slight little niggle in my calf and achilles area.
"We thought that it was more of a precaution and it made more sense just to pull me out of that race and not risk anything for the four-man.
"So Leon ended up stepping up and jumping into the two-man, which he did a fantastic job with.
"But we're super positive moving into this week, and we can't wait to get the four-man started."
The British sled ended the two-man competition in 12th place – but all eyes are now on the team to deliver on the four-man, where the team have enjoyed so much success since their sixth-place finish in Beijing 2022.
With a silver (2023) and a bronze (2025) at the world championships, along with multiple European and World Cup medals, the British quartet, led by Brad Hall, have long been earmarked as favourites to upset the dominant German bobsleds at the Milano-Cortina Olympics.
But after the German teams of Johannes Lochner, Francesco Friedrich and Adam Ammour locked out the podium positions in the two-man earlier this week, the British team will need to perform at their very best if they want to knock one of their German rivals off the four-man podium.
The last time the team raced at the new track in Cortina was at last November's World Cup and test run, where they finished sixth overall.
And with a new track, this could help level the playing field. Thankfully for Brad Hall, learning a new track is something he's pretty good at.
Speaking to olympics.com, he said: "At the last two Olympics that I've been to, I've been one of the first ones to be able to work out the track and find the fastest way down, but obviously it's about being the fastest one at the end of it all, so yeah, that's what we hope to do this time.
"There's a lot of pressure, especially as the pilot.
"Obviously, for all us guys, it's a team effort and we've all got to be on top of our game, but once everyone's in the sled, I've got a mile of ice ahead of me where I've got to make minuscule movements with my hands to make sure that we get down as fast as possible, and one little slip or one little lapse in concentration could lose us a medal."
So, can Team GB cause a German upset and win a first bobsleigh medal since the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games?
As they say in bobsleigh, absolutely anything can happen, especially at the Olympic Games.
Taylor Lawrence won't be the only military athlete in action in this weekend's four-man bobsleigh competition.
Royal Navy athlete Able Rate Shakeel John will also be in action representing Trinidad & Tobago.
AB John was a reserve athlete four years ago in Beijing, but after the selected athletes got injured on the first day of the two-man competition, he got the call-up to race on the second day of the competition.
This will be his first Olympic appearance in the four-man competition alongside his teammates Axel Brown, De Aundre John and Xaverri Williams.
The first heats of the four-man bobsleigh competition begin on Saturday, 21 February at 09:00 UK time, with the medals being decided in the final heats on Sunday, 22 February at 11:15 UK time.
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