This is David and Goliath on ice; Brad Hall the biggest underdog of the bobsleigh world, Francesco Freidrich the utter behemoth of the sport.
Freidrich has a multi-million pound operation behind him as well as cutting-edge technology, Hall has virtually had to beg, steal and borrow all the way to next week’s Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Of the 16 World Cup races the pair have competed against each other this season, Freidrich has won 14. Hall, meanwhile, boasts six podiums and finished fourth in the end-of-season four-man bob standings, a place lower in the two-man event.
To put him on the pathway to being a potential medallist at the Games, he conservatively estimates the cost of his season at £100,000 while buying a sled is in the region of £85,00 - which has had to be self-funded after UK Sport pulled the plug on funding Britain’s bobsleighers back in 2019.
The sporting body has since stepped in with a cash injection of £40,000, of which Hall gets a quarter but otherwise he relies heavily on personal sponsors. And, remarkably, he has bettered everyone in the world this season, Freidrich included.
Understatedly, he said: “I have to wear a lot of different hats. At the beginning, there’s a lot of stress to bring money in, create a website, set up stuff for potential sponsors.”
Along with being the marketing man, he is responsible for his own research and development, as well as ensuring he is in peak fitness as an athlete.
And Hall is still on the lookout for more sponsors, pointing out there is still plenty of room on the sled for logos with more money needed to see out the final part of his season.
It is all in stark contrast to the dominant force of the sport… Germany. The Briton explained: “They’ve got four of their own bobsleigh tracks, hundreds of people working for them, hundreds of athletes and a budget for each season is tenfold what we have. Just to be in the mix with them shows we’re doing something right.”
Hall had just finished fourth at the World Championships in 2019 when UK Sport pulled the plug after the bobsleigh team had failed to win a medal at the previous year’s Olympics, while the organisation itself was beset by mismanagement and accusations of bullying.
The 31-year-old from Crawley could be forgiven for an element of bitterness but, while he describes the removal of funding as “a hard blow”, he insists, “I don’t regret anything”.
For one, he has full autonomy over his progression in both the two-man and four-man bobsleigh, and the direction he has gone in has paid off with a silver medal at the test event in Beijing as well as other podium finishes in World Cup races throughout the season.
There is also a sense of disbelief he finds himself in this position at all. A budding rugby player in his youth playing for county, university and then Crawley, he had never once been skiing – still hasn’t – when he tried out for skeleton with the Power to Podium scheme.
He got through to the last stage but didn’t make the grade and so was instead steered into bobsleigh where he has flourished before eventually becoming the driver of the bob.
When funding disappeared two-and-a-half years ago, it was heartbreaking. Bobsleigh is not a cheap sport.
Last season was the first without funding, the difficulties further exacerbated by an Achilles injury to one of his team and a Covid false positive which caused havoc to their ambitions.
For all the setbacks, he stays remarkably upbeat. “The past is the past and we’re looking forward,” he said. “We just make the best of what we’ve got every single week.
“When funding disappeared two-and-a-half years ago, it was heartbreaking. Bobsleigh is not a cheap sport but we’re still here. Most of us don’t like asking for help on the best of days and that’s taken a lot of trial and error. But if you don’t ask, you don’t get so you’ve got to keep on asking.
“We don’t have a wage to live on, people are stressing about how to pay the bills and live day to day. We’re still looking for support to allow us to train better, to ease the burden on any vehicle or flight or travel costs. But we’ll get there.”
