A Dover man was a member of the Great Britain bobsleigh team which finished in the top three in the final stage of the Europa Cup event - and now he is looking for sponsorship to help him qualify for the Winter Olympics next February.

Former Archers Court School boy Jamie Devlin was among the team who took third place at Cesana Pariol in Italy - their best ever result - in what proved to be the closest race of the season, topping their excellent fourth place finish the previous week in St Moritz.

Jamie and his team-mates John Jackson, Keith McLaughlin and Roger Smith, were just 0.05 seconds away from winning a Europa Cup race. Russia were first with Germany second.

They had been in the lead at the end of the first run, and were disappointed to drop to third after the second run.

But Jamie stilol has his sights set firmly on the Olympics in Vancouver in 2010, and is looking for sponsors to help him achieve his amibition.

Jamie, a Royal Marine Commando, had a fantastic first season after being spotted playing rugby by a talent scout in October 2007 and selected for the Great Britain bobsleigh team as brakeman to the UK’s top bobsleigh driver, Lee Johnston.

Jamie, 23, who lives in Whitfield, came 18th in the two-man event at the World Championships in Germany, 13th in the four-man and fourth in the team race. In the Inter-Services championships, he finished first in the two-man with Lee and first in the team race.

He also won gold in the two-man race in the British Championships with John Jackson, and gold in the four-man, with John, Lee and Lee’s brother Karl Johnston. Best of all, Jamie was named fastest brakeman.

Anyone interested in supporting him can contact him by email at jamie.devlin@ntlworld.com