TROWBRIDGE'S John Jackson is in prime position for an assault on the podium positions in the men's four-man bobsleigh after he and his crew climbed to seventh place on the first day of competition at Sochi 2014 today.

The GBR1 pilot and his team of Stuart Benson, Bruce Tasker and Joel Fearon were 10th in the standings after an opening run of 55.26 seconds in their first heat this afternoon but they followed that up with the second-fastest second run of the day.

The British quartet came home in 55.27, notching up an overall time of 1:50.53 as they moved up to seventh at the halfway stage of the competition, 0.34 off leaders Russia 1 and just 0.18 behind third-placed Germany 1.

Team Jackson also benefitted from the misfortune of rivals Canada 3, who suffered a spectacular crash as they took to the ice after the GBR1 crew.

"I didn't think the first run was overly bad," said Jackson.

"The second was a little bit better but the time was similar. The track degrades very quickly here."

Tasker added: "It's been a tense day but we've managed to keep calm."

Ace Jackson, who almost miraculously overcame an Achilles injury to compete at this year's Winter Olympics, will attempt to drive his sled to glory in the second day of competition tomorrow.

GBR1 will push off seventh in the third runs, which being at 9.30am UK time tomorrow, with the fourth and final heat beginning at 11am.

Meanwhile, Great Britain's second sled, led by Lamin Deen, lie in 18th position with an overall time of 1:51.51.

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