Bobsleigher Olly Biddulph fifth at Winter Youth Olympics (From Bridgwater Mercury)

Bobsleigher Olly Biddulph fifth at Winter Youth Olympics

1:09pm Monday 23rd January 2012 in Sport

OLLY Biddulph may have come within a whisker of a medal but there was no dampening the bobsledder's mood as he left the Winter Youth Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, empty handed.

The 18-year-old, from Westonzoyland, who was the driver in the two-man sled with brake man James Lelliot, finished fifth - just one-tenth-of-a-second outside of the medal positions and 0.27s from a gold medal.

After a sluggish start in, the duo fought back with a storming second run of 54.54s, reaching over 70mph on the course, and the former Millfield School pupil admitted that a top-five finish was more than he could have dreamed of coming into the Games.

He said: “Unbelievable, it's absolutely unbelievable.

“We wanted to come in the top six so we are more than happy with that and we got a personal best for our race time and a personal best for our start so we are delighted.

“We missed out on a medal by a tiny amount but that's bobsleighing at the end of the day and we are happy with how we did.”

Biddulph was part of a 24-strong GB team out to Austria on January 11 and he will now stay on to compete in the World Junior Championships.