James Dasaolu: taking a different kind of track
Croydon Harriers sprinter James Dasaolu has switched sports in a bid to compete in his third Olympics – this time amid the snow and ice of the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.
Dasaolu, 33, made his World Cup bobsleigh debut at the weekend, teaming up with Lamin Deen in back-to-back two-man bob events in Igls, Austria. In doing so, according to winter sports experts, Dasaolu became arguably the fastest man to push a bobsleigh for any nation on the World Cup circuit.
Dasaolu, who raced over 100metres for Great Britain at the 2012 London Games and then at the Rio Olympics four years later, has a lifetime best on the track of 9.91sec, making him the second-fastest Briton ever.
Dasaolu made his international bobsleigh debut in the opening Europa Cup race of the season at the start of December, when just a few weeks after he first stepped into a sled for the first time, he and Deen finished eighth in Winterberg.
Dasaolu in his more familiar role, as a European champion
Now the former European 100m champion has a key role in the rollercoaster sport.
The sprinter will be expected to push the sled over the first few metres of the course, generating maximum power and speed, before jumping in and holding on for dear life as Deen negotiates the icy course, with the bob reaching speeds of close to 90mph as they hurtle around icy hairpin bends.
At the Igls World Cup, Deen and Dasaolu finished 19th in both races.
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