Robin Dixon

As Britain does not have a single bobsleigh run, the victory of Robin Dixon and Tony Nash in the two-man bobsleigh in 1964 has been compared with a competitor from a country without a pool winning a gold medal for swimming. Dixon and Nash had been well advised in their preparation by Tony Brooks and in 1963 they finished third in the World Championship that was held over the Olympic course at Igls, near Innsbruck, Austria. At the 1964 Olympics, the British pair was lying second to the Canadians after the opening run but moved into first position on the second run. They then lost the lead to the Italians before a magnificent fourth and final run gave them victory by the margin of 12/100ths of a second. The 1964 World Championship went with the Olympic title and with Nash as driver and Dixon as brakeman they retrained their world title at St Moritz in 1965. Although they failed to retain their Olympic title in 1968, they finished a commendable fifth at Alpe d’ Huez, France. Dixon, the heir of the Lord Glentoran, was educated at Eton and was awarded the MBE in recognition of his Olympic success.