15 | ThisWeek | Thursday,February3,2022 durhamregion.com Whitby's Cam Stones may have been a bit of a medal long-shot at the 2018 Winter Olympics, but not this time. The member of 2-man and 4-man bobsleigh teams - he's a brakeman for driver Justin Kripps - has a wealth of experience, and medals, earned on the World Championship circuit over the past four years. Stones, who finished 12th in Pyeongchang, Korea in his first Games back in 2018, is back for a medal this time around in Beijing. Unfortunately, the Durham native, who trains out of Calgary, won't have any family and friends to cheer him on in China. COVID-19 has made this a spectator-free Games so his parents and sisters who made the trip to Korea will have to watch from home and hope he can hit the podium. The podium has been a regular place for Stones to be since 2019. He's wracked up four two-man bronze and five two-man silver medals on the demanding world circuit with Kripps at the controls. The success has been ever more pronounced in the 4-man sled, with Stones earning three four-man gold medals and four four- man bronze medals, meaning a medal in Beijing is well within his sights. Bobsleigh wasn't always Stone's first athletic choice. A natural rugby player, the 6-foot-3, 238-pounder enjoyed the rugby field before an injury caused a change in careers a few years before the 2018 Games. The Sinclair Secondary School graduate, who went to university in Hamilton at McMaster, has since continued to get better and better at his "second" sport to the point where he is now truly world class. The 30-year-old will be carrying Whitby's and Durham's hope as he's the only athlete from the region at the Winter Olympics. We'll list the schedule of his events so you can watch his races on TV. The Games in Beijing run from Feb. 4-20. Bobsleigh takes place from Feb. 13-15 and Feb. 18-20. Whitby's Cam Stones a member of 2- and 4-man teams in 2022 in Beijing, will be confident of success in the bobsleigh after a good few years of competition. Dave Holland photo WINTER GAMES 2022 CAM STONES WILL BE GOING TO HIS SECOND OLYMPICS FULL OF CONFIDENCE AFTER SUCCESSFUL RUNS TIM KELLY tkelly@durhamregion.com BOBSLEDDER HOPES TO SLIDE TO OLYMPIC GOLD SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT DURHAMREGION.COM