Olympics-Bobsleigh-Stayaway Brits leave rivals guessing

By Justin Palmer ROSA KHUTOR, Russia, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Britain's four-man bobsleigh team hope to keep their rivals guessing and increase their chances of an Olympic medal by staying away from Sochi until just days before the competition. British Bobsleigh performance director Gary Anderson has hatched a plan that will see John Jackson and his crew remain at a training camp in Germany and arrive at the Games a few days before official training begins. Anderson believes staying away from the Olympic environment will give his team the optimum chance of ending a 14-year wait for a bobsleigh medal when the competition starts on Feb. 22, the penultimate day of the Games. Sean Olsson's four-man crew clinched bronze in Nagano, Japan, in 1998, and Britain's sole Olympic triumph came 50 years ago in Innsbruck when Tony Nash and Robin Dixon won gold in the two man bob. "Lots of teams are asking where the four-man team are, and I like that because that means they are taking notice," Anderson told Reuters. "When I have the German coach, the U.S. coach come up to me and talk about my four-man team I get very proud of that and I'm very happy that they are taking us seriously." Jackson, 36, given full-time release from his job as a Royal Marines physical training instructor in April, has made a remarkable recovery after sustaining a ruptured Achilles last July. Results during the winter have been mixed but a second place in Lake Placid, the best ever World Cup result for Britain, has fuelled the belief that British bobsleigh is on the rise. OVERHAUL Anderson has overseen an overhaul after funding was cut for the British team after a disappointing 2010 Olympics, including a recruitment drive to attract track and field athletes to the sport - a move mirrored by other nations like the United States and Australia. He believes Jackson's quartet, which includes former sprinter Craig Pickering, is among seven crews vying for the podium - although winning a medal at these Games would be ahead of the target he has set for Britain to be among the leading bobsleigh nations by 2018. "Seven teams are in with a chance here of a medal - all the four-man drivers can drive it within a hundredth of each other," said Anderson, who worked with the curling team at the last winter Games in Vancouver and was also performance manager for judo at the 2004 Olympics. "We know the secret to our success here will be our start. If we get that right then we have a chance. In Germany we have all the facilities where we can do that." A late arrival, Anderson said, meant the British four-man team "were in control of their own destiny". "The length of time we are staying out of the village is longer than normal. "You look around the facilities here, they are excellent - as they are at any Olympic Games. However, they are very busy and you don't always get the time that you need. "In Germany, we are in control of what we do. We can set the training times, the times we eat, the team meetings. Here you are dictated to by the Olympic timetable which can be a bit restrictive." (Editing by Peter Rutherford)