GLOSSOP-based bobsleigh ace Dan Money admits he has already been struck down by Olympic fever – despite the Vancouver Games being almost a year away.

The 32-year-old is odds-on to be in the four-man bob team that goes to Vancouver next February after taking his place in Great Britain’s number one sled that finished 15th at last month’s World Championships in Lake Placid.

Driver Lee Johnston has already secured his seat on the plane for his fourth Games, earning Britain a sled in Canada in the process, but Money will not know for certain if has done enough to earn one of the brakeman slots until the British trials in October.

However, the former Glossop High School pupil is confident the World Championship four – that includes Lee’s brother Karl and former GB international sprinter Allyn Condon – will be the quartet that lines up when the action gets underway just under a year from now.

"We haven’t had the easiest of years as a team but hopefully we can get things back on track now so that next year we really start picking up the results we need with the Olympics on the horizon," said Money, who also competed in the two-man, finishing 20th alongside Lee Johnston.

"We wanted a top-ten finish at the World Championships and want a bit higher if we all make it to the Olympics.

"We have already got a taste for the track in Whistler having competed at a World Cup event there – people talk it up a lot but I don’t think it was as scary as other tracks.

"Lee has done his bit in getting the sled to qualify now as a team we have to make sure we support him. I may have a bit of advantage because I am in the two-man as well but that has a lot to do with weight restrictions and I am an ideal candidate.

"This is my third season and with the Olympics so close I do get excited about the fact that we may be going over there."

Despite failing to live up to their pre-championship target Money and company can take solace from the fact they finished two places ahead of the second British crew, which included former Wasps rugby union star Henry Nwume.

Money highlighted the unity of his team by revealing they had stood by him despite a recent mistake at February’s World Cup in Utah that saw them disqualified from the competition.

"I had quite a nasty fall at our last event at Park City – I slipped at the start and as a result struggled to get in the sled," he added.

"We were disqualified as a result – and I have apologised to the guys for dragging them through the mill recently.

"But that has been a bit typical of our season so far – it could have been so much better and there is still room for improvement but we are in it together."

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