Stuart Benson

Stuart Benson (born 12 February 1981) is a former bobsledder who competed for Team GB, and an avionics technician in the Royal Air Force. His competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi in the four-man bobsleigh, competing with John James Jackson, Bruce Tasker, and Joel Fearon, where they finished fifth. With the disqualification of both Russian bobsleigh teams who finished ahead of them, they officially finished third.[1]

Stuart Benson
Personal information
Born (1981-02-12) 12 February 1981
Glasgow, Scotland
Years active2011–2014
Height1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Weight103 kg (227 lb; 16.2 st)
Spouse(s)Sarah Benson
Websitewww.stubenson.com
Sport
CountryGreat Britain
Sport Bobsleigh
Event(s)Four-Man bobsleigh
ClubGB Bobsleigh, Bath
Coached byDominik Scherrer
Peter Gunn
Michael Khmel
Medal record
Men's Bobsleigh
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place2014 SochiFour man

Biography

Benson was born 12 February 1981 in Glasgow, Scotland.[2] He grew up in Troon.[3]

Benson is in the Royal Air Force, working as an avionics technician[2] since the age of 20.[4] He currently holds the rank of corporal.[5][3] Whilst in the RAF, Benson competed with the RAF Athletics Team in the long jump and triple jump.[3] Benson moved into sprinting, running in the fastest Scottish relay team for 16 years; and competing in the Crystal Palace Diamond League.[2][3] However, the relay was not fast enough to qualify for the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games.[2] This led him to try out at a bobsleigh "talent identification" event in 2011, where he was discovered in bobsleigh.[2] This led to his becoming part of the GBR1 bobsleigh team; at the end of summer 2011 he was selected into the four-man GBR1 team.[6]

In 2011 Benson won the Royal Air Force Sportsman of the Year, mainly for his track sport achievements.[7]

Benson is married to Sarah Benson, who is a long-distance runner.[4]

In 2013 the four-man bobsleigh team won a silver medal at the European Championships.[8]

Olympics

Benson's debut Olympics is set to be the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi,[2] and he was given special dispensation for time off from the RAF to attend.[6] Competition there for the four-man bobsleigh event began on 22 February 2014.[5] The British Olympic Association had qualified the GBR1 four-man bobsleigh team as on the "podium programme", i.e. that they have a chance of winning a medal.[6] Benson competed with John James Jackson, Bruce Tasker, and Joel Fearon; of whom only Jackson was experienced; Tasker, Fearon and Benson were all comparatively new to the sport.[6] The team finished fifth in the event, 0.11 seconds away from a medal. However, two teams that finished ahead of GBR1 were later disqualified as part of the Oswald Commission investigation.[1] The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the ruling in February 2018.[9]

References
  1. "Exclusive Interview - retired Scottish bobsleigh star Stuart Benson on his battle to get his bronze medal". HeraldScotland. 20 December 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  2. "Stuart Benson". Team GB. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  3. "Cosford airman aiming for gold in bobsleigh". The Shropshire Star. 5 February 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  4. "GB Bobsleigh Team Jackson". Stuart Benson. Archived from the original on 27 February 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  5. "Stuart Benson aims for flying start at Sochi". The Shropshire Star. 17 February 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  6. "Scottish athlete, who had never seen a bobsleigh until 18 months ago, is now tipped for Winter Olympic glory". The Daily Record. 27 May 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  7. "Stuart Benson". Sochi.ru. Archived from the original on 20 February 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  8. Hope, Nick (26 January 2014). "GB bobsleigh quartet warm up for Sochi 2014 with silver medal". BBC. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  9. "28 Russians have Olympic doping bans lifted". OlympicTalk. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
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