GB Olympic hopeful aims for bobsleigh medal
BBCA leading athlete who was talent-spotted three years ago, before being injured in a freak accident months later, is hoping for a medal with his GB bobsleigh teammates.
Leon Greenwood, from Newbury, Berkshire, helped Great Britain to third place overall in the Bobsleigh World Cup in Lillehammer last week, the sixth time in a row the team has finished in the top three.
Greenwood was previously a sprinter but was told to give bobsleigh a go because of his speed and strength.
He will be part of the team that competes in the World Championship at Lake Placid in the United States on 15 March and hopes to compete in next year's Winter Olympics in Italy.
"Back in 2022, I knew someone who did bobsleigh and they said: 'Leon, you look like you would be good at it.'
"I did my sprinting and they said: 'You're tall, you're wide but you're not heavy enough just yet,'" he told BBC Radio Berkshire.
"I [later] got invited down to this talent identification day, where Olympians were there checking if you had the potential to be a world-class athlete.
"They saw I had potential and it progressed from there. I got invited again and again and again and that is how I got involved."
An accident ruled him out him for months shortly after he joined the team but he managed to retain his place.
"We were doing loading drills, which is like a static way of getting into the sled before you go onto the ice. I was about to get in [when] I booted the side handle and I broke my toe," he said.
"So I got onto the team and I had to wait a year to compete because I couldn't do anything."
Greenwood and the four-man team were 0.36 seconds away from finishing second overall but were forced to settle for bronze in the final round at Lillehammer in Norway on Sunday.
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