He is probably the first athlete to fund his Olympic dream by being shot out of a cannon.

British bobsledder Toby Olubi took the decision to turn himself into a human cannonball as part of his unorthodox bid to raise funds to support his path to Pyeongchang.

The 30-year-old – who was part of the GB squad which set a new bobsleigh speed record of 92mph in a World Cup race last year – completed the feat on the BBC game show ‘Can’t Touch This’.

Olubi, who was named in the 10-strong British sliding squad this week, told Press Association Sport: “Going 92mph in a bobsleigh is scary, but being shot out of a cannon is much worse. I don’t think I’ve felt that scared – or that airborne – in my life.

“I must have gone about 40 feet high. I did a lot of flapping around before I landed in a big pool of foam and started checking myself for broken bones.

“In bobsleigh as a brake-man the journey is out of my control, but at least I have some faith in the driver, whereas in this situation I had no faith whatsoever.”

The 30-year-old quit his job as a school support teacher to devote himself to reaching the Pyeongchang Games after narrowly missing out on Sochi.

And faced with raising thousands of pounds to fund almost six months on the road with the rest of the squad, he took the unlikely approach of applying to take part in a series of TV game shows.

Olubi made £12,000 after out-foxing the Banker on ‘Deal or No Deal’, but blew a chance of £10,000 with Philip Schofield on ‘The Cube’.

Olubi added: “Never mind the bobsleigh or the human cannonball – I’ve never felt as nervous as I was on ‘Deal or No Deal’.

“But I’ve got no regrets about any of it. Since missing out on Sochi I’ve lived and breathed and slept bobsleigh and I’ve devoted everything I have to fulfilling my goal of becoming an Olympian.

“I believe there is no reason why we can’t push for a medal in Pyeongchang. We’ve already won a World Cup silver medal this season and set the world speed record so anything is possible.”