Bobsleigh athlete Anthony Ryan has experienced the absolute lows and the highs of Olympic selection this week. A few days ago the Australian Olympic Committee was told they would not receive a quota place for the four-man bobsleigh at the Vancouver Games, which meant he would be working as a high school teacher and not making his Olympic debut.

But late yesterday it was confirmed Austria had declined to send a second team and that Australia would receive a spot on the start line.

“Not many people get told they’re not going to the Olympics and then told they are going to the Olympics all in the same week,” Ryan said with a laugh.

“My week has been book-ended by totally different emotions. At the start of the week I was devastated and thinking about learning Russian for the Games in four years time and now I am stunned, amazed and really excited.”

Ryan, who started back this week in his job as a PE teacher at Chatswood High School in Sydney, will now pack over the weekend and join Jeremy Rolleston, Duncan Pugh and Duncan Harvey in Vancouver. These three, along with Chris Spring were named in the two two-man combinations a week ago.

“I was going to the gym yesterday when I got the phone call and I couldn’t believe it. I actually called back half an hour later to make sure it was definite and I could start telling people.

“I told the principal at work and they are thrilled. There will be a school assembly today so I expect they’ll make an announcement and tell the kids.”

Bobsleigh is a sport based on scintillating speed not dissimilar to Ryan’s rise to the top.

He played first grade rugby for Warringah until injury meant he took up athletics. After three seasons on the track he had run 10.79 seconds and was approached by Rolleston to give bobsleigh a go.

“I only started bobsleigh in April [2009] so this is all pretty amazing. I’ve always been someone who makes the most of opportunities and bobsleigh was one I couldn’t miss.”

Ryan just missed a spot in the 2-man with Chris Spring while it was the four-man that he had high hopes for at the Games.

“The four-man was going really well and we were amongst the fastest starters in all our competitions. We looked like we would qualify comfortably until two crashes at Lake Placid put us down the rankings.”

The Australians will be taking on the world’s best bobsleigh athletes and the fastest track ever at the Vancouver Games. The Whistler Sliding Centre is a venue feared by many athletes but not Ryan.

“It is an amazing venue. It is very smooth and really, really fast. There are a couple of turns that are known as 50/50. There is extra hype about the venue and athletes wait to see the blue light at the top which means there’s been a crash on the track!”

UPDATED bobsleigh section of the 2010 Australian Olympic Winter Team:

Pilot: Chris Spring           
Two-Man (AUS1)

Pilot: Jeremy Rolleston
Two-Man (AUS2)
Four-Man

Crewman: Duncan Harvey 
Two-Man (AUS1)
Four-Man

Crewman: Duncan Pugh   
Two-Man (AUS2)
Four-Man

Crewman: Anthony Ryan       
Four-Man

Note: Australia is on the list to be allocated an additional quota place in the women’s bobsleigh by FIBT under the quota reallocation process. If this occurs, Astrid Loch-Wilkinson and Cecilia McIntosh have been nominated as the athletes to be added to the Team.