A ROYAL Marine has spoken of his delight after hearing he will be included in the Great Britain Olympic Bobsleigh team.

Corporal John Jackson, originally from Barnard Castle, was in London with the rest of the British team yesterday.

His place on the two-man bob team and the four-man team will be confirmed this week.

Cpl Jackson, 32, will be the team driver in both events, steering the sled as it hurtles down the icy track at speeds of up to 90mph during the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, from February 12.

The former Teesdale Comprehensive School student said that while the team is by no means favourite for a medal, he is confident of a good placing.

“We have been managing to get in the top 18 recently so, if things go to plan, I would hope we could finish between tenth and 15th,” he said.

Historically, the sport has been dominated by Alpine nations such as Austria, Switzerland and Germany, as well as the US and Russia.

But it was the British success at the 1998 Winter Olympic games in Nagano, Japan, which inspired Cpl Jackson to take up the sport.

“I saw the British pick up bronze in 1998 and one member of the team was in the Army, so I thought I should have a go,” he said.

“I kept putting it off and putting it off, but I finally got round to trying it in 2005.”

Cpl Jackson, who was a keen athlete and footballer, impressed at trials and was invited to join the training squad.

He fits summer training around his Army duties, but is given time off in the winter to train and compete. But the 2010 Olympics have been his main aim.

“It has been tough this year and there have been a lot of things that have been hampering us, but I think the sheer perseverance has got us there in the end,” said Cpl Jackson, who is now based in Devon.

He said his role in the team is crucial to success.

“Once we get a good start it is me who will be steering. You only have to make a little mistake at those speeds and it will cost you,” he said.

“It’s just a question of trying to keep it controlled and staying calm, just as you see the 100m sprinters focusing before they race.”

In Vancouver, he will be joined in the Team GB sled by former rugby player Henry Nwume, who played for London Wasps before joining the Army as a doctor and taking up the bobsleigh.

Also on the team will be Allyn Condon, who was a member of the Great Britain 4x100m sprint relay team, which won gold at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

Cpl Jackson will also be keeping tabs on the women’s bobsleigh competition in Vancouver.

His girlfriend, 23-year-old Paula Walker, has been selected for Great Britain’s two-woman bobsleigh team.

Cpl Jackson’s mother, Julie Lee-Shields, who lives in Darlington, said: “I’m very proud of him. He’s done really well to get where he has.

“It’s a very disciplined sport and he has to be very strict with his diet and training.

“We tried to get accommodation so we could go and watch him race but, unsurprisingly, everywhere is booked.

“So, we’ll have a family gettogether and support him from home watching on the TV.”

Next week, Cpl Jackson will fly to Utah, in the US, to train before travelling to Canada for the games.

The first heat of the bobsleigh competition is on February 20.