WHAT THE F IS A BRAKEMAN?
Brakeman
Brakeman
Brakeman
Pilot
Ok yes so this platform was created assuming everybody knows what a Brakeman is and apparently it is not common knowledge.
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So, for those not in the know: a brakeman or woman is an individual who pushes a bobsleigh as hard as they possibly can for around a 5 second period, load into the sled, enjoy (lol) the ride of a bob run, pray today isn't the day that they flip and break their neck, then exhale loudly with some tears and swearing as they pull the brake to stop the madness.
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They then load themselves and their sled on a truck (or cameon) and travel back up to the top of the mountain to do it all over again.
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They are a unique breed of sporting masochist who force themselves into this cycle of trauma in the name of Olympic endeavour.
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And as you can see, we love playing up to it.
The reality is, these people are some of the bravest, most hard-working and most determined athletes in the elite sporting environment.
At the top of our game, we have athletes who can run the 100m in sub 10 seconds, Crossfit Games Champions, American Footballers, Rugby pros, arm wrestling champions (a while back but that's legit) and more!
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We get on the road and kiss goodbye to our loved ones for months on end - the travelling circus of the World Cup circuit taking us around the globe.
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The athletes are fast, powerful with unbelievable reaction times. The kit we slide in enables us to reach speeds of almost 100mph using physical brute and good old gravity as our accelerators. It as pure a form of racing as you'll find, and it's getting faster.
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If the pilot doesn't have the start at the top, then he won't have the velocity to win at the bottom.
The brakemen and women at the top level have 5 seconds to get their job right, or they lose.
Fast start = fast downtime (if the pilot hasn't cocked up their job!)
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It was through witnessing the failures, successes and incredible journeys of the awesome athletes competing at the top level of bobsleigh and seeing their criminally low exposure that sparked a desire to create this platform.
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They deserve somewhere to have their stories told, and the world needs to know their names. That's our vision.
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Let's see what happens.
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TBM