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From armchair enthusiast to prime seat with GB four-man bob
07 February 2007
By Sean Munnery - 07/02/07
Taken from Crawley News
SITTING at home watching the Winter Olympics on television last year, Matthew Roberts had no idea how his life would change in 12 months.
As the cabinet-maker watched the bobsleigh event in Turin, the Great Britain team made an appeal for new members. Roberts, a keen rugby player and sprinter, had never seen more than a sprinkling of snow but decided to respond - and the rest as they say is history.
This month, the 22 year-old will be part of the GB four-man bobsleigh team taking on the giants of winter sports in Italy and Germany in the nest three rounds of the World Cup series. At the top of an icy track he will join his lycra-clad team mates in jumping into a runaway sled and arrowing to the finish at 85mph, enduring the G-force normally only experienced by fighter pilots.
It rounds off an incredible year for Roberts, who was considering going travelling before having an epiphany from which he has never looked back.
?I?ve always known about bobsleigh because my dad knew the former team manager,? he said.
?It?s always fascinated me and when they asked for new people I thought I?d like to have a go at that. At the time, I was working in Bristol and I went down to Bath in July to do some tests.
?I heard nothing for ages, then they gave me a call in September to say I was going so it was panic stations as I had to get into training.?
Having represented Crawley Athletics Club and Sussex as a sprinter, and playing on the wing for Sussex Schoolboys rugby, Roberts had the raw power and speed needed to be a success at bobsleigh.
The former Thomas Bennett Community College student has made an instant impact, coming third in the two-man bobsleigh team in the latest leg of the Europa Cup in Winterberg in January, which ranks as the GB team?s best result of the year so far.
Roberts has now graduated to the four-man bob and joins with his team mates this week ahead of the last three rounds of the World Cup series in Germany and Italy.
As a ?pusher?, his training requires him to be powerful and quick, but also to watch his diet to avoid slowing the sled down.
Roberts said: ? The sport appeals to me because of the speed and power involved. As I?m one of the smallest guys I have to make sure I don?t lose weight.
?We have meals provided for us at the hotels so the managers make sure its healthy, but I try to make sure I eat healthily all the time. I train in the gym two or three times a week, but depending on where we are in Europe it?s not always possible to get there. In any case, lifting the sled is a work-out in itself ? it weights about 240kg.?
Having rocketed to the top of the sport almost overnight, Roberts is hoping to stay there until the nest winter Olympics rolls around in 2010.
?To have this opportunity is a bit surreal,? he admitted. ?To be involved in the Olympics would be a great experience and that?s what I?m aiming for.?
Roberts is looking for sponsorship to support his training. E-mail m.roberts@bobteamgb.org if you are interested in backing him.
SITTING at home watching the Winter Olympics on television last year, Matthew Roberts had no idea how his life would change in 12 months.
As the cabinet-maker watched the bobsleigh event in Turin, the Great Britain team made an appeal for new members. Roberts, a keen rugby player and sprinter, had never seen more than a sprinkling of snow but decided to respond - and the rest as they say is history.
This month, the 22 year-old will be part of the GB four-man bobsleigh team taking on the giants of winter sports in Italy and Germany in the nest three rounds of the World Cup series. At the top of an icy track he will join his lycra-clad team mates in jumping into a runaway sled and arrowing to the finish at 85mph, enduring the G-force normally only experienced by fighter pilots.
It rounds off an incredible year for Roberts, who was considering going travelling before having an epiphany from which he has never looked back.
?I?ve always known about bobsleigh because my dad knew the former team manager,? he said.
?It?s always fascinated me and when they asked for new people I thought I?d like to have a go at that. At the time, I was working in Bristol and I went down to Bath in July to do some tests.
?I heard nothing for ages, then they gave me a call in September to say I was going so it was panic stations as I had to get into training.?
Having represented Crawley Athletics Club and Sussex as a sprinter, and playing on the wing for Sussex Schoolboys rugby, Roberts had the raw power and speed needed to be a success at bobsleigh.
The former Thomas Bennett Community College student has made an instant impact, coming third in the two-man bobsleigh team in the latest leg of the Europa Cup in Winterberg in January, which ranks as the GB team?s best result of the year so far.
Roberts has now graduated to the four-man bob and joins with his team mates this week ahead of the last three rounds of the World Cup series in Germany and Italy.
As a ?pusher?, his training requires him to be powerful and quick, but also to watch his diet to avoid slowing the sled down.
Roberts said: ? The sport appeals to me because of the speed and power involved. As I?m one of the smallest guys I have to make sure I don?t lose weight.
?We have meals provided for us at the hotels so the managers make sure its healthy, but I try to make sure I eat healthily all the time. I train in the gym two or three times a week, but depending on where we are in Europe it?s not always possible to get there. In any case, lifting the sled is a work-out in itself ? it weights about 240kg.?
Having rocketed to the top of the sport almost overnight, Roberts is hoping to stay there until the nest winter Olympics rolls around in 2010.
?To have this opportunity is a bit surreal,? he admitted. ?To be involved in the Olympics would be a great experience and that?s what I?m aiming for.?
Roberts is looking for sponsorship to support his training. E-mail m.roberts@bobteamgb.org if you are interested in backing him.