Royal Marines bobsleigh star Taylor Lawrence to return to action this weekend
Royal Marine Commando Taylor Lawrence is set to return to action this weekend with Great Britain's four-man bobsleigh team at the World Cup in Igls, Austria.
The team enjoyed a record-breaking 2022/23 season, winning 11 World Cup medals as well as Britain's first four-man world championship medal in 84 years.
But the start of the team's 2023/24 season was plagued with injuries, with pilot Brad Hall undergoing surgery on his back, and Arran Gulliver and Greg Cackett battling serious injuries pre-season.
This meant they had to miss the opening competition in Beijing as well as the World Cup in La Plagne last weekend.
But having initially feared they might miss the whole season, the team are now set to line-up in this weekend's two-man and four-man events in Igls.
Speaking to the British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association, pilot Brad Hall said the team had "no expectations" going into the event.
He said: "Me and the team are extremely excited to be back as part of the World Cup and just to be away on season.
"We started training here in Innsbruck only a week ago with me just sitting in the sled and hoping my back would be able to tolerate going down the track.
"We passed that test and then we’ve been slowly increasing things. I’m now able to push a sled, jump in and get down, so I’m happy to be able to achieve that at this stage.
"We're taking things easy leading into this weekend, though. Even though it’s a race, we don’t see it like that - we're just participating in it, we’re not racing. We’ve got no expectations except to go out and enjoy it."
The team's long-term focus for this season is to be ready for the World Championships in Winterburg, Germany, in February and March.
Hall and Lawrence will compete in the two-man event from 12:30 GMT on Saturday before they are joined by Gulliver and Cackett in the four-man at the same time on Sunday.
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