The Team
A team of athletes recruited by RAF Engineer and Bobsleigh Pilot John Stanbridge, pooled from the some of the best the military has to offer; featuring athletes from the Royal Air Force and High performance sport . A depth of experience in the sport and representing from National to Olympic level and all with the same vision, to become the absolute best and battle towards Olympic qualification.
Pilot
Nickname: Stanners
Position: Pilot & Team Captain
Height: 6 ft 0
Weight: 98KG
Home: Cosford
Debut: Winterberg Dec 2020
Jens Hullah
Brakeman
Nickname: Jens
Position: Brakeman
Height: 6 ft 3
Weight: 108KG
Home: Bristol
Debut: Lillehammer Nov 2023
Alex Cartagena
Brakeman
Nickname: Alex
Position: Brakeman
Height: 6 ft 1
Weight: 95kg
Hometown: Warrington
Debut: Lillehammer Nov 2021
Luka Williams
Brakeman
Nickname: Luka
Position: Brakeman
Height 6 ft 2
Weight: 95KG
Home: Radstock
Debut: Lillehammer Nov 2022
Brakeman
Nickname: Ally
Position: Brakeman
Height: 6 ft 0
Weight: 100kg
Home: Bath
Debut: Lillehammer Nov 2022
Brakeman
Nickname: Owen
Position: Brakeman
Height: 6 ft 3
Weight: 106kg
Home: Plymouth
Debut: Lillehammer Nov 2022
Brakeman
Nickname: Callum
Position: Dixon
Height: 6 ft 0
Weight: 102kg
Hometown: Yorkshire
Debut: Lillehammer Nov 2023
Brakeman
Nickname: Ben
Position: Brakeman
Height 6ft 2
Weight: 98kg
Home: Shrewsbury
Debut: Lillehammer Nov 2022
John Stanbridge
A long-serving RAF Aircraft Engineer in which he served several tours overseas and in the UK, John Stanbridge has built on 4 years of Inter-Service bobsleigh experience and continued athletic development, breaking through from the military development programme to reach international level. John was loaned out as a Brakeman to represent New Zealand in 2019/2020 season, placing 8th overall on the North American Cup.
After his international brakeman spell, his true calling was found in the bobsleigh front seat. After consistently challenging at the RAF and Inter-Service Championships for the RAF No.1 spot since 2018, he stepped up and trialled for the GB Development Programme in 2019. Following successful trials, he obtained his Great Britain Debut the following season as a Pilot on the IBSF European Cup 2020/2021 season, leading his newly formed team to an impressive two top 20 results. Spearheading the commitment and desire to progress through the ranks have been the main factor to his success. Before Bobsleigh John was an all-round natural sportsman, involved in rugby, football and track events during his youth.
2- man Competition
Bobsleigh athletes can be described as power or speed athletes. The nature of the 2 man discipline requires the Pilot and Brakeman to push a 170kg sled over a 45m distance as quick as possible, they then both load into the sled in sequence. The brakeman's job is done for now as the pilot then focuses on the mile or so track, making precise steering adjustments to find the quickest lines as they reach speeds of up 80mph plus and experience forces of up to 5G. It can easily be described as a wooden rollercoaster ride without the tracks or F1 on ice. Once the race against the clock has been complete the brakeman then pulls a lever to stop the sled.
4 - Man Competition
4-man adds another level of complexity to the sport and also brings in a higher element of speed and danger. The athletes have to push a 210kg sled the same distance and all 4 have to load into the sled. The extra weight in the sled pushes the total weight up to 630kg increasing the speed of the sled, with the fastest ever 4 man sled reaching 97mph. It requires a huge amount of practice and trust to be able to load into a 4 man sled and make it look effortlessly. The extra gives the Pilot a little more stability when negotiating the track however, with a longer heavier sled it becomes more difficult to correct mistakes and the risk of crashing is increased.
Coaching
Sean Olsson
The team is currently being coached by 4 man Bronze Olympic Medalist Sean Olsson. Sean won his medal in the 1998 Nagano Olympics achieving GB's first Olympic medal in the discipline. A retired member of the British Army's Parachute regiment and coach to the Army team for over 20 years his experience has been vital in the development of the team in recent years. Bob Team Stanbridge made their debut 4 - man race in Lillehammer Norway in November of 2022 achieving 12th & 15th place. The best result for Great Britain in the 2022/2023 European Cup that season.
