Brad Hall has long been digging for World Cup gold and dreamt of it for a decade or more.
The British pilot didn’t feel dangerous in Lake Placid, taking fifth in the two-man with Greg Cackett, his worst result of the season.
Famously a perfectionist, Hall feared another calendar year would pass without a pot of gold at the end of the second run.
“The two-man didn’t go to plan for Greg and I,’ said the 32-year-old.
“We were losing speed down the track and I wasn’t sure why. I was driving well but it just didn’t come together.
“I came into the four-man apprehensive and wasn’t sure what would happen. I didn’t have the confidence we’d win.”
Hall, Cackett, Taylor Lawrence and Arran Gulliver defied self-doubt and the burden of history to win Britain’s second-ever 4-man bobsleigh World Cup gold.
The first came in 2021, four years late, after Lamin Deen, Ben Simons, Toby Olubi and Andrew Matthews’s feats at Whistler were upgraded due to anti-doping violations.
These four history boys have done it in the era of bobsleigh’s undisputed GOAT, Germany’s Francesco Friedrich, double reigning Olympic and world champion.
Hall edged Friedrich by a single hundredth of a second, the second time in two years and 15 races that the German has been beaten in a four-man race.
“Winning a gold medal in the Friedrich era is as good a gold medal as ever was won,” said Cackett.
“We’re constantly resetting those mental barriers and hurdles and we’re really proud that we delivered the start that enabled Brad to win that gold.
“You dream about a gold medal and how you’d react in the leader's box, how you’d celebrate. When it happened, I had no idea how to react.”
Team Hall finished sixth at the Beijing Olympics, with Gulliver stepping into the sled in place of Nick Gleeson.
The new blend has caught fire in the early part of this season. They opened with silver at Whistler and then fourth at Park City, with incredibly strong push start numbers.
Rookie Gulliver helped deliver the top start time of the lot in the second run at Lake Placid, a towering achievement.
Lawrence said: “Arran has come in and just gelled perfectly into the team.
“It’s so nice to be on that start line and know he’ll do the business and not have to worry about him. He’s come on leaps and bounds.”
Gulliver said: “I just wanted to be able to come into the team and continue their form from last year. To be sitting here this side of Christmas with a silver and a gold is incredible.
“I’m absolutely over the moon and I can’t thank the lads enough, it’s a testament to them, the way they’ve coached me and brought me on. We’ve all worked hard and we all deserve it."
Gulliver got World Cup gold on his third start but Hall's wait has been rather longer - this was his 12th World Cup medal - and the top step felt as good as he'd imagined.
“It’s been a long time coming, we’ve won so many silver medals, to finally get that gold is a massive relief," said Hall.
"The boys and I are truly overwhelmed. It was an unreal experience.
"You could probably see the emotion on our faces when we crossed the line and realised we’d won. It was the culmination of all of the hard work of the last few years coming together to finally reach that goal of winning a gold medal."
Sportsbeat 2022