Four-strong Team GB skeleton team named for Vancouver Olympic Winter Games
Friday 29 January 2010
The British Olympic Association today (Friday) announced the selection of its skeleton athletes to represent Team GB at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
The team features four athletes – Kristan Bromley, Adam Pengilly, Shelley Rudman and Amy Williams.
Sheffield-based Rudman, currently ranked number two in the world, won silver at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin. She won four World Cup medals this season out of eight races – including two golds.
Speaking at today’s team announcement at the British Olympic Association offices in London she said: “It’s been a really successful season for me, I’m in good form. The challenge now is to maintain that momentum and focus it exactly at the right time.
“I have very special memories of the Olympic Winter Games and the silver medal I won in Turin four years ago was the greatest moment I’ve had in sport.
“But my appetite to succeed remains as strong as ever, and I’m going to Whistler hoping that it all comes together and that luck is on my side.”
Bromley, the 2008 World Champion and European Champion, and 2007/8 World Cup champion, competes at his third successive Olympic Winter Games. He finished fifth in Turin four years ago and is currently ranked sixth in the world.
Bromley, also based in Sheffield, said: “The Olympic Winter Games are very different from anything else on the circuit. It’s the one event every four years when we have the attention of the world.
“It’s a great environment there, it’s a real pressure cooker.”
Pengilly competes at his second successive Olympic Winter Games. Eighth in Turin in 2006, he won silver at the 2009 World Championships in Lake Placid in the USA and is currently ranked 18th in the world.
Pengilly, who is based in Bath, said: “It’s really exciting, I just can’t wait to get stuck in and hurtle down the track as fast as I possibly can. It’s going to be really challenging, but as a team I think we can do really well.”
Williams makes her Olympic Winter Games debut in Vancouver. She won the silver medal at last year’s World Championships and is currently ranked five in the world.
Williams, who is also based in Bath, said: “This is my first Olympic Winter Games and I’m really pleased to be selected. I’m going to go there do my very best and give it everything I can.”
Andy Hunt, Team GB’s Chef de Mission for Vancouver, said: “Team GB has a fantastic record in skeleton, and these names really do inspire anybody who loves Olympic sport.
“We have four truly world-class athletes here, including, of course, Shelley Rudman, who won our only medal at the last Olympic Winter Games.
“They reflect exactly what it takes to get to the top of sport – talent, dedication, energy, focus and competitive spirit,” he added. “I’m sure each of them will rise to the occasion on the biggest stage of all.”
Donna Creighton and Chris Type were named as travelling reserves for Vancouver.
Andi Schmid, British Skeleton’s Performance Director, will be Skeleton Team Leader in Vancouver, with Michael Gruenberger as Head Ice Coach. Mark Wood, Ice Coach, Richard Bromley Sled Engineer/Ice Coach, with Rachel Blackburn Sled Technician, Chris Price Physiotherapist and Danny Holdcroft Strength and Conditioning Coach.
James Roche, Phil Searle and Sid Lawrence travel as non-accredited staff as Sled Technician, Logistics Manager and Reserve Athlete Co-ordinator respectively.
The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games run from 12 to 28 February 2010.
The skeleton competition takes place at the Whistler Sliding Centre on Thursday 18 February and Friday 19 February, with two runs for men and two for women on each day.