Joining the TNT coverage of the sliding events this Olympic Games is ex Team GB bobsleigh driver, Lamin Deen. Deen spent an afternoon in the run up to the Games explaining how he thinks the various teams competing for Team GB will fare in the 2026 Olympic Games.
Deen is very excited about how he thinks the GB team will get on. "Every time you put the race on, you expect medals,: Deen explained. "that has not been the case for many, many years." While the skeleton team have dominated the headlines, the Bobsleigh team in all its guises are now forcing their way into the conversation.
"The mens team are constantly in the top six, if not in the medals," Deen continues. "The team are coming into form now and it is so exciting to know that you have got a team that is constantly knocking on the door for the podium," Deen adds.
From losing funding due to years of not achieving the goals set by UK Sport to having a sled that is laden with sponsors logos, this has allowed the team to spend more on training camps and prepare better. What does Deen feel have been the key factors in the improvement of the team?
"Funding has played a big part and the programme allowing the team to stay together for many years, knowing each other inside out and raising the bar to have the start, the equipment and giving the guys those two things and them being able to execute," Deen explains.
Bobsleigh is a unique sport. The start is so important in getting a fast run and then there is gravity so does the improvement in equipment play a big part?
"I think now in regards to technology the sleds on the circuit are stock sleds, off the shelf with the exception of the German programme who are a state funded programme and they build their own sleds. The Swiss also and the Americans build their sleds.
"The start though matters always, the equipment is a big factor, like when you compare it to Formula 1. The biggest change has been the consistency of Brad Hall's driving. Since the last Games he has come on leaps and bounds. He was good anyway bit now I would say he is in the top 4 drivers in the world for consistency."
So what makes a good driver?
Deen, an ex World Cup driver himself, pauses and thinks. "What makes a good driver is someone who runs down the track, consistency and repetition. Brad has got all those things and you can see now, coming into his third Olympic Games, he has got all of those things."
Hall is happy both in the two and four man sleds and is able to execute on both. The British team have a practice start down at Bath University and this is where they put in the hours repeating the start, making sure that they can shave off fractions of a second in getting into the start so that when they go to ice training, this is all second nature.
The track at Cortina was build for the 1956 Olympics but recently the track has not been used and fallen into disrepair. The fact that it is not a regular stop on the World Cup tour makes it more of a level playing field, Deen feels. While the names of the curves have come from the old track it is a new track.
The course has had a full length test event in November 2025 after a Push Event practice event in September 2025. German teams dominated the results on that day. Athletes described the track as "very, very technical" and "smooth". It includes a complex, high-speed layout with a challenging upper section. The track is designed with modern safety, sustainability features, and a roof, utilizing a 96% glycol refrigerant system.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjT28JuJMEw
Deen feels that the teams that pick the track up quickest in their training runs and then during their competition runs, "that is who will win the medals."
"This is more of a technical track especially at the start," Deen feels, "you can start a tenth faster than another sled but if you mess up corners one to four, where the speed is slow, that can absolutely demolish all of your speed for the rest of the track. The race will be won and lost at the start of the track."
For the women's monobob and the lighter bobs, getting the first four turns spot on is vital.
The set up of the sled is not as varied as it used to be with fat runners on both front and back to help with the exit from corners with most teams using the same brand. The technology gap in runners is not that big when compared to the design of sleds.
Deen feels that the German sleds are the one to beat, "Brad has beaten them all over the last season, but the Germans are favourites. It is tough to call but the Germans are the hot favourites."
On any given day, any sled can win. Make a small mistake and the time can go. Gravity plays such a big part in the ice disciplines but the thrill and adrenaline is still there.
Can the British crews come home with a medal? Deen believes there is the possibility but it will be tight.
Lamin Deen will be providing punditry for TNT Sports during the Olympics
Watch every event of Milano Cortina 2026 live on TNT Sports and discovery+ from 6-22 February