Canadian Olympic sprinter named to Sochi bobsled team

Canadian sprint Olympian Bryan Barnett will be going to the Olympics again, this time as a bobsledder.

On Monday, Dec. 16, Bobsleigh Canada announced the 2014 Canadian Olympic squad and Barnett was included in the team list. Barnett was the 2007 Canadian champion over 200m and competed in the 200m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics after finishing second at the national championships to Jared Connaughton.

Barnett is not the only former track and field athlete named to the team. Neville Wright, a Team Canada sprinter at the 2007 World University Games, was also named the the Canadian bobsled team along with Cody Sorenson, who was a Canadian university medallist in the sprint hurdles at the University of Guelph. Chelsea Valois, a university heptathlon medallist at Regina was named to the women’s team.

Barnett joins a small group of Canadian athletes who have competed at both the summer and winter Olympics. Glenroy Gilbert, now a sprint coach in Ottawa, also competed in the sprints and bobsled at both Olympics. Other notable Canadians to compete in both are Clara Hughes (speed skating and cycling) and Haley Wickenheiser (ice hockey and softball).