Gold Run

By Brian Belton

It was one of the greatest moments of sportsmanship ever seen at the Winter Olympics.

And one of the greatest – and unlikeliest – of British Olympic triumphs.

In Austria in 1964, it was 30 years since the British team had won a medal in the most hazardous and exciting of Winter Olympics contests – the bobsleigh. 

Tony Nash and Robin Dixon cam across the sport almost by chance. 

Going into the Olympics, they were the underdogs. 

But they came from nowhere to claim the gold in one of the most explosive bobsleigh races of the twentieth century.

Despite coming from a country where the sport and it dangers are little known, the British duo fought their way to victory through sheer hard work and dedication, eventually becoming the world champions at amateur bobsleigh, against all the odds.

Before their heroic gold medal win, Britain’s place in bobsleigh history was only notable for its extreme lack of success. Nash and Dixon put an end to that horrendous losing streak. Their place in Winter Olympic history was cemented forever in those few magical moments, and it would be another thirty years before any British athlete could match it. 

With the fifty year anniversary of the team’s victory just round the corner at Russia’s 2014 Winter Olympics, the leading sports historian Brian Belton takes us on a journey through the ups and downs of the Nash and Dixon’s triumph against the odds. 

With contributions from Robin Dixon himself, ‘Olympic Gold Run’ is the heart-warming true story of the greatest bobsleigh team Britain has ever produced.

It is essential reading for all sports fans.

Brian Belton is the author of ‘Bolton Born: The Early Years of Bolton FC’, ‘When magpies First Flew: Newcastle FC The Early Years’ and numerous other sports books.

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