Jackson looking forward
Great Britain bobsleigh pilot John Jackson says he will not dwell on his crash when the four-man competition gets underway.
Last Updated: 26/02/10 9:25am
Great Britain bobsleigh pilot John Jackson says he will not dwell on his crash earlier this week when the four-man competition gets underway at the Winter Olympics on Friday.
Jackson and his crew members Henry Nwume, Dan Money and Allyn Condon make the first of two runs at the Whistler Sliding Centre five days after brakeman Money was thrown out the back of his bob when he and Jackson overturned in the first heat of the two-man event.
Two days ago, British team-mates Nicola Minichiello and Gillian Cooke also crashed out of the women's two-man event.
"It's unfortunate to crash out at the Olympic Games but it happens," Jackson said following his final training run at the Whistler track.
"You ride it out and hope you come out of it with no real injuries.
"We've put what happened behind us and we're looking forward."
Jackson's GBR1 clocked 52.77 seconds for the 16th fastest time of the 19 crews who decided to train on Thursday, 1.41 seconds off the pace set by Russia's Alexsandr Zubkov.
The Russian was one of many drivers who chose not to start the second training run but Jackson did go and saw an improvement to 52.37.
That placed him 0.81 seconds slower than reigning two-time champion Andre Lang of Germany, who last Sunday successfully defended his two-man title.
Bad day at the office
Meanwhile, British skier Chemmy Alcott put her 27th-place finish in the women's giant slalom down to a "bad day at the office".
Alcott, 25th after her first run on Wednesday, posted a time of one minute 17.53 seconds in the delayed second run for a combined time of 2:29.94.
"It was a bit of a bad day at the office. Everybody has them, but you just don't want it at the Olympics," she said.
The 27-year-old finished 2.83 seconds behind Germany's Viktoria Rebensburg, who claimed a surprise gold medal having been sixth after her first run.
Alcott said: "I felt like I really knocked the door down. I didn't make a mistake, I just skied too hard.
"I'm disappointed because it didn't happen today, but I really enjoyed it."
Slovenia's Tina Maze took the silver while first run leader Elisabeth Goergl, of Austria, had to settle for the bronze.
Alcott, who is due to go straight back into action in the women's slalom on Friday, also felt race officials had made the right call in postponing Wednesday's second run due to fog.
"It was a good a decision, a safety decision. The conditions were really difficult and they were much better today. We were all in the same boat."