“Uniquely pedantic”, “an absolute champ”, “incredibly intelligent”, “resilient”, “difficult”, “level-headed”, “one of my best friends”.
All words used to describe Brad Hall by Greg Cackett, Taylor Lawrence and Nick Gleeson, the three men who hope to push their pilot to Olympic glory in Beijing.
In a bumpy ride to the top of their sport, some less complimentary phrases have been used to describe Britain’s world-beating bobsled.
“People called us the stupidest team on the season,” said Gleeson. "Just a bunch of idiots really, because we were having a laugh on social media.
“We don’t take ourselves too seriously when we don’t need to. When we’re at the track, we’re doing everything we need to do, but we can switch on and off and enjoy it.
“We’re not just hardcore athletes - we’re four regular guys, there’s nothing particularly special about us. If you take us and we push a bobsleigh, it works.
“Before the 2019 World Championships, someone commented saying, ‘idiots abroad - prove me wrong.’ We went out and finished fourth in the world behind three Olympic medallists.
“I spoke to the first person who made that comment and they said, ‘you proved me wrong’ and I’m incredibly proud of that.”
Gleeson and Cackett return having made their Olympic debuts as part of Hall’s crew that finished 17th at PyeongChang 2018.
Like so many British crews, they are powered by the physicality, precision and trenchant wit synonymous with military service.
New man Taylor Lawrence is a serving Royal Marine Commando and Gleeson a paratrooper.
Hall has lifted these likely lads into the rarefied air of fourth in the overall World Cup standings and to six medals across the two-man and four-man disciplines, Britain’s most successful season this century.
One of those four-man medals, silver in Winterberg, came on December 12th 2021, the same day that Lewis Hamilton settled for second in the Formula One title race.
For Cackett, that’s a fitting coincidence.
“I think Brad is probably like Lewis - the attention to detail and the desire,” he said.
“We don't have a multi-billion euro programme, whether it’s engineers poring over the data sheets and changing everything to get as much speed as you can.
“We've got Brad in the garage, loosening and tightening nuts and bolts, and he's done a fantastic job with it.
The track at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre, on which Hall and Cackett won two-man silver at October’s Test Event, poses a unique challenge to pilots.
It features 16 curves and it’s the first of its kind in the world to include a 360-degree turn.
“As a brakeman in the back, it’s not the most challenging track,” said Lawrence. “There aren’t too many big pressures or too many times to get hurt in there.
“But as a pilot, because of the shape of the corners and how big they are, there are lots of different lines and ways to get around it. It’ll be about negotiating the slower parts with real precision.
“Brad is a very, very good pilot in terms of adapting to different tracks. It’ll be about who can adapt and bring consistency over the four runs.”
In some Winter Olympic sports, like alpine skiing, athletes wrestle with an invisible enemy and a rotating cast of rivals. For Hall and team, gold standard is plain to see.
German pilot Francesco Friedrich is as dominant an athlete as you’ll find in Beijing. He went unbeaten throughout 2021, won 21 World Cup races on the bounce until January and claimed the last four overall four-man titles.
“No-one’s unbeatable, we’ve proven that,” said Gleeson.
“Everyone is human and no-one is a robot. He’s on another level at the moment but he’s never out of our sights."
Going one further, as is his wont, Hall can see the whites of Friedrich’s eyes and reckons he’s got the Germans running scared.
“They’re nervous at the moment,” he said.
“On some tracks, like in Sigulda which is quite new on the circuit, they’re nervous of us on tracks they don’t know well.
“You see a lot of yellow jackets from the German sleds, always watching us and what we’re doing that. They’re interested in what we’re doing and see us as a threat.”
Sportsbeat 2021