(Reuters) – Former long jumper Greg Rutherford’s hopes of adding a winter Games medal to his London 2012 gold were dashed on Thursday after the 35-year-old failed to make the cut for Britain’s bobsleigh squad for Beijing.
Rutherford made his international bobsleigh debut under pilot Lamin Deen at a World Cup race in Winterburg, Germany as part of a four-man team, finishing 17th out of 21.
Deen’s squad failed to achieve three top-12 finishes in the World Cup season, however, missing out on qualification for the Games.
Rutherford, who also won long jump bronze in Rio, was looking to become the seventh athlete to win a medal at a Summer and Winter Games after Eddie Eagan, Jacob Tullin Thams, Christa Luding-Rothenburger, Clara Hughes, Lauryn Williams and Eddy Alvarez.
Brad Hall will lead Britain’s only four-man bobsleigh team at the Games, where they will be strong contenders to win a medal, coming off the back of a World Cup season that saw them claim three podiums and place fourth in the overall standings.
The Beijing Olympics begin on Feb. 4.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
