TROWBRIDGE pilot John Jackson was concentrating on the positives after narrowly missing out on a four-man medal at the World Championships in St Moritz last Sunday.

The 35-year-old, who is based in Paxcroft Mead, and his crew were left to rue a sluggish opening run on Saturday, which left them in 13th place, as they then roared back into contention with their final three outings.

Jackson, alongside Stuart Benson, Bruce Tasker and Joel Fearon, bounced back in spectacular fashion on the second of their four runs, clocking the fastest time of 1:05.46.

Two more solid outings of 1:05.26 and 1:04.77 – sixth and fourth fastest respectively – gave them a combined time of 4:21.33; just seven one-hundredths of a second behind the USA crew, led by Steven Holcomb, in bronze medal position.

“Leading into the World Championships we were confident that we could get a top six result but I think after the first run I was more disappointed in myself for making the driving errors that costs us at least .2 or .3 of a second,” said Jackson.

“Without these mistakes we could have had a silver or bronze.

“We did have the fastest run in the second heat which boosted our confidence as it put us only .16 seconds back from bronze.

“On day two, the starts were where they needed to be and both runs were good, but with only .08 seconds covering third to sixth on the last run, it could have gone either way.

“It’s our best result and we are happy to still be in the mix with the top guys and getting closer every race.

“These next two weeks in Sochi for us are about learning the track, testing equipment and equipment set up, then from that looking at where and what we need to improve on for next year.

“The track is fast and we can see from the profile of the start that it will suit the dynamics of the four-man team.”

Germany’s Maximillian Arndt clinched gold, nearly half a second clear of Russia's Alexander Zubkov.

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