Olympic track gold medallist Mark Lewis-Francis has become the latest sprinter to move into bobsleigh.

The 33-year-old, who triumphed at Athens 2004 with Great Britain's 4x100 metre relay team, has joined British Bobsleigh's squad ahead of the new season of the Winter sport.

He is now aiming to medal again at the next Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in 2018.

"I'm all about challenges, I’ve already won a gold medal in the Summer Olympics and if I can win a medal at the Winter Olympics, I’ll be a happy man,” said Lewis-Francis.

"We’ve got a strong team already, they’ve come fifth at the last two World Championships and the Olympics so if I can slot in there somewhere and help them gain two or three places, it’s job done.

“The success the team have had really excites me.

"I’m definitely not coming just for the ride.

"I don’t just want to help them win medals - I want to be a big part of it.

"I want to put as much work in as the rest of the guys and achieve what they want they want to achieve.

“I’m loving the fact that British Bobsleigh and the British Bobsleigh & Skeleton Association have given me this opportunity and I’m going to grab it with both hands.”

Americans Lauryn Williams and Lolo Jones are among the other athletes who have competed in both sports.

British Bobsleigh described the acquisition of Lewis-Francis as a "major coup".

“For an Olympic gold medalist to want to come and be a part of the programme shows that we’re on the right track,” said Performance Director Gary Anderson.

“We’ve made the sport attractive to guys like Mark, they know there is a chance of a medal, and that’s what they want.

“Mark is a guy who likes to engage, and that’s something that we like about him.

"He’s extremely confident and has lots of ability.

"He’s won the highest accolade you can in sport and he was part of a team when he won that medal.

"That’s also very important to us because he clearly knows how to interact with the group.

“We know how fast Mark can run and we know his pedigree - that’s a given.

"We’ve been inducting him into the sport down at our push track facility in Bath, and that’s quite a fast process.

"He’s met the athletes and trained with them and he’s working with the coaches to look at transferring his speed into pushing, because that’s what we do - we push a sled.

“I’m fairly certain that Mark will push a sled quickly: he has everything that our research suggests he needs to do that and I’m excited about seeing him out on the ice this winter.”

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