Craig Pickering offers philosophical advice to Team GB bobsleighers?

Great Britain athlete Craig Pickering has tweeted a philosophical message on the morning of the four-man bobsleigh competition at the Sochi Winter Olympics.

The 28-year-old bobsleigher was ruled out of the Games a fortnight ago after suffering a recurrence of a long-term back injury in training, with Andrew Matthews taking his place in the four-man crew.

Pickering, whose Twitter description claims that he is "the world's unluckiest athlete", posted a somewhat cryptic message, which several news outlets have taken as a message of support for his colleagues.

"If the diver always thought of the shark, he would never lay hands on the pearl." Sa'di

— Craig Pickering (@craig100m) February 22, 2014

The Team GB four-man bobsleigh crew, consisting of Matthews, Lamin Deen, John Baines and Ben Simons, will begin their campaign today at 4:30pm GMT with the first two runs, while two further runs on Sunday will decide the medals.