British bobsleigh’s Brad Hall: ‘Winning medals without sacrifice doesn’t mean anything’

Team GB’s Brad Hall competing in Igls, Innsbruck, in January. ‘Before we lost our funding I had a lot of ideas,’ he says. ‘Every time I used to question management it was like: ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about.’’ Photograph: Dpa Picture Alliance/Alamy

For most athletes, a loss of all funding would signal the end. But for Brad Hall, Team GB’s bobsleigh captain, it was the beginning of a remarkable comeback story. The 34-year-old speaks about the financial shakedown of British bobsleigh with remarkable calm, as if it was a hurdle most professionals faced.

“I’ll have to take you back in time a little bit,” he says, reflecting on a period that could have ended his career. “We got a year of transitional funding until the 2019 world championships where we were told if we got top three we’re able to maintain our funding. But we finished fourth.”