World Cup Silver for Williams in Vancouver

06/02/2009

Amy Williams produced a stunning performance to win her first medal of the 2008/9 Skeleton World Cup campaign, taking silver on the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games track. The 26-year-old from Bath finished 0.53 seconds over two runs behind German's Marion Trott in the race that took place in the early hours of this morning UK time.

It is Williams' best World Cup result yet, following two bronzes last season.Amy Williams is celebrating the best skeleton World Cup performance of her career on the track that will be used at next year's Olympic Winter Games.

In the early hours of this morning she performed when it mattered, collecting a silver medal in round six of the 2008/9 World Cup. It was the 26-year-old Bath athlete's best World Cup performance yet after winning two bronzes last season and her first World Cup medal this season.

"I was pretty much first on every training day, so if I hadn't made the top three I would have been disappointed, I've enjoyed the track, although it's not an easy track. There are a few cheeky corners, so you've got to be careful. I was quite tense on the first run. I didn't really push as well as I wanted on the start. I made mistakes on both runs, so to come second when you know you can still improve is cool."

But Williams isn't taking anything for granted.

"Obviously I can't say I'm going to the Games yet. We've got the selection races next year, so there's a long way to go. But if I find myself here again in a year, these two weeks will have given me a lot of confidence.
"I've been top-three in training at just about every race this year, but I've never quite done it in the race. It's all starting to come together now. I know I've got it in me. It's a case of trying to get it all to happen at the right time."

Andi Schmid, GB performance director, said:

"It's an absolutely great result for Amy and it was also good to see Shelley finish in the top six. I'm pleased with the results today. Amy has looked very comfortable on this track, it's all about learning when you get to a new track. I'm also convinced we'll see some good results from Amy in the next two races."

Williams remains fifth in the overall 2008/9 World Cup series. She has two fourths, two sixths and a 17th from her other fives races. Team-mate Shelley Rudman, silver medallist at the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games, finished sixth at Vancouver and continues to top the overall World Cup rankings. Rudman has two golds and a silver under her belt this season, which means between them Britain's women sliders have now medalled at four of the six World Cups.

Britain's men missed out on the podium in their race, with Kristan Bromley finishing 10th and Ant Sawyer 14th. Andy Wood's 24th time in the first run meant he missed out on a second run.

The World Cup action now moves to the USA for the last two races of the series, which take place on Wednesday 11th February and Thursday 12th February at Park City. They are followed by the World Championships in Lake Placid at the end of the month.

Women's results - Vancouver World Cup

Gold: Marion Trott (GER) 1:49.86
Silver: AMY WILLIAMS (GBR) 1:50.39
Bronze: Anja Huber (GER) 1:50.71
6th: SHELLEY RUDMAN (GBR) 1:50.83

World Cup standings after six of eight rounds

1st: SHELLEY RUDMAN (GBR) 1148 points
2nd: Marion Trott (GER) 1137 points
3rd: Anja Huber (GER) 1131 points
5th: AMY WILLIAMS (GBR) 1034 points

Men's results - Vancouver World Cup

Gold: Jon Montgomery (CAN) 1:47.67
Silver: Gregor Staehli (SUI) 1:48.06
Bronze: Jeff Pain (CAN) 1:48.19
Bronze: Matt Antoine (USA) 1:48.19
10th: KRISTAN BROMLEY (GBR) 1:48.66
14th: ANT SAWYER (GBR) 1:48.12
24th: ANDY WOOD (GBR) 56.04 (1 run)

World Cup standings after six of eight rounds

1st: Alexander Tretiakov (RUS) 1076 points
2nd: Florian Grassl (GER) 1067 points
3rd: Frank Rommel (GER) 1036 points
9th: KRISTAN BROMLEY (GBR) 890 points
13th: ANT SAWYER (GBR) 670 points
22nd: ADAM PENGILLY (GBR) 288 points
25th: ANDY WOOD (GBR) 226 points