A maternity doctor from Bristol will be joining Olympic gold medal winning rower James Cracknell and television presenter Ben Fogle on their latest challenge – a 400-mile race to the South Pole.

Ed Coats, 28, who works at St Michael's and Southmead hospitals, beat 650 other applicants to join Team QinetiQ, who will each pull 200lb sledges in the race, which starts in January.

Ed has a degree in aerospace physiology and has just completed a law degree while juggling his day job.

He has represented Great Britain as a decathlete, swum the Channel in 2003 and in his spare time he enjoys keeping fit through running, swimming and cycling and took part in the Bristol Half Marathon last month.

Ed said: "When I learned that QinetiQ were looking for a third team member I applied immediately. As a former international decathlete, I have a fierce determination to succeed that I am sure will help galvanise a tried and tested duo in Ben and James into a winning team."

Fogle and Cracknell have previously rowed across the Atlantic together. The duo set the record for the fastest two Britons to make the crossing, completing the 3,000-mile journey in 49 days.

Cracknell is a double Olympic champion, six-times world champion and world record holder. He has run the London Marathon twice, taken part in triathlons and recently completed his cross-continent challenge for Sport Relief, which saw him make his way from the UK to Africa powered by his body strength alone.

Fogle shot to fame in the 2000 series Castaway and since then, has become a household favourite presenting a variety of programmes from Crufts to Animal Park. His most recent series is Extreme Dreams, in which he takes five members of the public on adventures of a lifetime.

Fogle and Cracknell personally oversaw the selection process that was designed to "separate the men from the boys".

Fogle said: "We were really pleased when Ed was selected as he shares our passion for adventure and clearly relishes a challenge."

Ed added: "I know this race will challenge me physically and mentally and in ways I cannot even imagine. I am both excited and apprehensive to be racing into one of the most inhospitable places on earth."

Ed, James and Ben will be competing against eight other teams in the Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race, including three all-female teams – two from Norway and one from the UK.

The competitors will face constant challenges throughout their journey: surviving in temperatures as low as minus 50°C, navigating and skiing while pulling a 70kg sled and climbing up to 9,300ft to the South Pole.

Faster teams are expected to take 30 days to complete the race and slower teams 45 days, including a 24-hour enforced rest period half way through.

In December, the teams will fly to Cape Town, then to Novo Base, a Russian scientific base in Antarctica for training and acclimatisation.

The Bristol doctor and all the other competitors will then fly to the start of the race to the Geographical South Pole.