BOBSLEIGH: The disappointment of missing the Vancouver 2010 Olympics is the driving force behind Australia’s Bobsleigh pilot Heath Spence.

Competing in the 2-man competition starting on Day 9, Spence is aiming for a top 15 finish with teammate Duncan Harvey.

On arrival in Sochi, Spence said it had been a long road to qualification.

“Realistically going home with a medal is going to be really, really hard just coming from where we come from and how we’ve done this to get here. Qualifying was pretty hard,” he said.

“We get seven races to go towards our qualifying and we actually did eleven races just to make sure we had enough points. We didn’t leave it to chance.

“Four years ago I set myself the target to be the best qualified Australian bobsled pilot ever.”

Spence missed out on the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and decided to move full-time to Calgary, Canada to improve his skills on the track and his chances on making the Sochi Games.

The 33-year-old is expecting tough competition from the world’s best Bobsleigh pairs. American pilot Steven Holcomb is having an extremely successful season and is tipped to lead his team to gold.

Pilots who are key challengers for medals also include Switzerland’s Beat Hefti, Russia’s Alexander Zubkov and Canada’s Lyndon Rush.

Spence is aiming to produce the best Australian bobsleigh performance at an Olympics since the first Aussie team qualified in 1988 in Calgary.

Starting on a brand new sled, Spence and Harvey say winning a medal will be difficult, but anything could happen on the track.

Harvey heads into competition hoping to better his result from Vancouver four years ago. He and pilot Chris Spring crashed heavily in training ahead of the 2-man. They were able to compete but were hampered by their injuries and finished in a disappointing 22nd place. They subsequently withdrew from the 4-man event.

Spence will also pilot the Australian 4-man team on Day 15 and 16 of the Games with Harvey, Gareth Nichols and Lucas Mata as brakemen.