Laura Deas

It is a second Games for Deas, who won bronze behind champion and compatriot Lizzy Yarnold at PyeongChang 2018, while Crowley, Weston and Wyatt will all be making their Olympic debuts when the skeleton events take place from 10-12 February.

Deas said: “Being selected for a second Olympic Games feels like a huge honour and it’s something I’ve worked incredibly hard to achieve. Pulling on Team GB kit always makes me feel like I can do something special and, heading to Beijing, I will be aiming to do just that.”

Crowley added: “It’s pretty emotional and I still don’t think it’s sunk in yet. I am so proud that I have been selected to represent Team GB at the Olympics, and it makes it even more special for me after the ups and downs of the last few years.

“I can’t wait to put on the kit and head back out to Beijing and slide. I will enjoy every minute of it and the motivation to go out and compete is really high.”

Weston, a gold-medallist on the World Cup circuit this year, said: “I still can’t believe it’s real! Being selected to not only go to an Olympics but be aiming for medals is a dream I have had since I can remember. I can’t wait to head back out to the best track I’ve raced on this season and enjoy every moment.”

Wyatt, who won Olympic Test Event silver in October on the track being used for the Games, said: “To be selected for the Olympic Games is literally a dream come true. Although this season has been tough, I’m really excited to go out to Beijing with the aim of competing for a medal.”

All four athletes train with the British Bobsleigh & Skeleton Association (BBSA), which has enjoyed outstanding medal success during the two decades since the UK’s only push-start track was built on the University campus following Team Bath’s successful bid for National Lottery funding.

Alex Coomber won bronze at Salt Lake City in 2002, then Shelley Rudman took silver at Turin 2006 before University of Bath graduate Amy Williams was crowned Olympic Champion in thrilling fashion at Vancouver 2010.

Yarnold took the crown at Sochi 2014 and became the first British winter-sport athlete to successfully defend her Olympic title four years ago, where she was joined on the podium by Deas. There was also bronze in the men’s race for Dom Parsons who, at the time, was combining skeleton with a PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the University.

As well as honing their start – a crucial factor in setting a fast time on the ice – on the push track, the skeleton athletes also train in the high-performance gym and on the indoor and outdoor athletics tracks at the £35million Team Bath Sports Training Village, which is also home to a host of Summer Olympic and Paralympic champions from Tokyo 2020.

Team GB will announce the bobsleigh squad for Beijing later this week. Visit teambath.com/Beijing2022 for the latest Winter Olympic news and a guide to who is competing and when .

With thanks to the Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight 

Deas, who won bronze in South Korea four years ago, is the only member of the University of Bath-based GB skeleton squad to have previously competed at the Games and is sharing her knowledge of what to expect over the next three months with team-mates like Crowley.

“We’re a very close team and I like to think my experience can help them,” said Deas. “I remember when I was preparing for PyeongChang and hadn’t been to an Olympics before, I very much relied on Lizzy [Yarnold] and Dom [Parsons], and listening to how they had navigated all of the challenges.

“Hopefully if I can impart some of that to this next generation of athletes then I’m doing my bit as well. I help them out with my experience and they help me out with their drive and passion. It’s a very special time for them and I’m very lucky to see that from my side.”

Brogan Crowley (Photo: Matchtight)

Crowley, who will race alongside Deas on the Women’s World Cup circuit this season, said: “We’re all like puppies, we’re all excited, but Laura has brought that level-headedness. The programme is good at that too, keeping us all focused.

“This season will be really exciting for us all. It’s a completely different challenge – we have the usual eight World Cup races but at the end of it we’ll have either qualified for the Olympics or not, so there is that added pressure. Working out from race week to race week where you stand and trying to keep your head will be the challenge but it’s one we’ve all been prepped for and hopefully it will be positive for us all.”

Deas agreed, saying: “It’s very important to have a balance going into an Olympic year. If you’re overly focused on the goal at the end, your eye might be off the ball at some of the World Cup and they are key to getting there. You can’t neglect one for the other.

“In terms of energy as well, it’s a very long winter with eight World Cups that all count towards qualification and it’s a long time to have that intense focus. Hopefully that’s where my experience will help me, in drawing confidence from the things I have done well before.

“When I look back to this time four years ago, I had some great results but some really average ones and a few bad races too. That didn’t end up defining what happened at the Games so when things get stressful, as they inevitably will, I can look back on that.”

Crowley is looking to build on a ‘really positive’ 2020-21 season, the first she had completed after being hampered by an ankle nerve injury.

“Last season was a big stepping stone as I actually got through the whole year without injury, so the number of runs I had was massive in comparison to previous years,” she said. “In every World Cup race I bettered my result and I finished with a fifth place, which I was really pleased with.”

The IBSF World Cup season begins with back-to-back races in Innsbruck, Austria, on Friday 19th and 26th November. There are further races in Altenberg (2) and Winterberg before Christmas, then Sigulda, Winterberg and St Moritz before Olympic qualification is settled.

The British Bobsleigh & Skeleton Association (BBSA) is based at the University of Bath, with athletes training in the High-Performance Gym, indoor sprint track, jumps and throws hall, and on the UK’s only outdoor push-start track. Visit teambath.com/skeleton to find out more.

With thanks to the Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight

Cohen, who had full-time athlete access to the UK’s only outdoor push-track and other high-performance facilities at the Sports Training Village during the summer with her federation’s support, is bidding to become the first Israeli female skeleton athlete to qualify for the Winter Olympic Games.

Adding to her motivation is the fact her grandfather, Maurice Cohen, was unable to achieve his own Olympic dream after being prevented from competing at the 1936 Summer Games in Berlin.

“I’ve got a very exciting season ahead and I feel very positive after a good summer of training at Team Bath,” said Cohen, who began a busy winter of racing last weekend on the North American Cup circuit at Whistler, Canada.

“It’s been a real privilege to have access to this special facility, they are very hard to come across internationally, and it’s going to make a big difference to my sliding this winter.

“I’ve been able to train on the push track, which is one of a kind and has really helped me work on my start which is so important in skeleton. I’ve also had access to coaching, the gym, the sprint track, nutritional support and all the things that go into building a really good performance during the winter season.

“If I am able to qualify for Beijing it would be a huge accomplishment for me and my family. My grandfather was born to a Jewish family from Iraq who emigrated to India, and he represented India in both hockey and water polo.

“He captained the water polo team that qualified for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin but was asked by his team to stay behind as they feared for his safety as a Jewish person. If I’m able to go out and make these Olympics in 2022, it will be honouring his legacy.”

Cohen, who is from Cambridge, has been competing internationally for Israel since 2018 having first got into the sport when her dad took up bobsleigh at the age of 50.

“Me and my brother thought it was a mid-life crisis but he was actually very good as an amateur bobsledder,” she explained. “I went to watch a few times and on one occasion was invited along to a skeleton camp with the British Forces team. I fell in love with the sport after my first run – the adrenalin rush, the speed, the excitement, the camaraderie of the team around you and being around the mountains.

“After that I was told I could go back for one week of sliding a year as their civvy ringer if they had a spare sled. A few years later, after being on the hamster wheel in London, I felt I was ready for a change so I decided to emigrate to Israel. My passion for skeleton was still growing and everything just came together at once.”

She became the first Israeli female skeleton athlete to compete at the IBSF World Championships in 2019 and is determined to make more history in February, with the two-month qualification period for Beijing now under way.

The University of Bath-based British Bobsleigh & Skeleton Association (BBSA) are providing additional support for Cohen during the season as a small-nations athlete on the international circuit.

Team Bath provides full-time support for athletes across a wide range of sports. Visit https://www.teambath.com/sport/performance/ to find out more.

With thanks to the Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight

Ashleigh Pittaway, a Youth Olympic Games gold-medallist in 2016, is only 17 years old but has already raced on the IBSF World Cup circuit five times and claimed a top-ten finish at the 2018 Junior World Championships in St Moritz.

She has been training full-time with the British Bobsleigh & Skeleton Association (BBSA) at the University of Bath since August and has now become the ninth University-based athlete to be named as an Ambassador for MJ Church.

The Marshfield-based Civil Engineering, Plant, Transport and Waste Management Contractor provide Pittaway and her fellow Ambassadors with a bursary towards their training and competition expenses. In return, the athletes help to inspire the company’s staff and their families, as well as customers and stakeholders, to participate in sport and healthy activities.

Pittaway said: “I am proud to have been selected as a MJ Church Ambassador. Their support will be invaluable as we approach the start of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympiad.

“I’ve won gold at the Youth Olympic Games and now it is all about developing towards my ultimate goal – winning a medal at the senior Winter Olympic Games.”

Pittaway grew up in Munich, Germany, and first tried skeleton aged ten while at a boarding school that specialised in winter sports. She has dual citizenship and joined the British Skeleton programme in 2015, going on to win Youth Olympic Gold in Lillehammer in February 2016 before making her World Cup debut later that month.

She showed further signs of her potential by winning silver and bronze on the Intercontinental Cup circuit in November 2016 before moving to Bath last summer to train full-time, using the University’s unique push-start track and world-class gym.

Pittaway gained more experience on the ice this season, racing four times on the World Cup circuit alongside Lizzy Yarnold and Laura Deas as they worked towards a Winter Olympic Games where they famously won gold and bronze respectively.

“I really look up to Lizzy and the other athletes here, they are all really supportive,” she said.

“I’m enjoying it in Bath. The push-start track is cool and just shows how professional the set-up is. Even though we don’t have the ice and a home track, we have all the facilities to help us perform at the very top level.

“I’m a bit different to the other athletes as I got onto the programme because I can slide well but my start isn’t that fast at the moment, while the others were selected because they start well but have to learn to slide. It’s a bit different but I am ready to improve.”

Pittaway joins a group of high-achieving MJ Church Ambassadors that includes Rio 2016 Paralympics silver-medallist Piers Gilliver (wheelchair fencing), Olympians Ben Fletcher (judo) and Joe Choong (modern pentathlon), and reigning British Champions Alex Lane (badminton), Anna Hopkin (swimming) and David King (athletics). Rugby player Sydney Gregson and Team Bath Netball star Rachel Shaw, both of whom are England internationals in their sport, are also proud to represent the company.

MJ Church, a dynamic business offering a diverse range of services from skip hire and waste collection to multi million-pound civil engineering contracts, became a partner of Team Bath in 2016 and supports sport from grass-roots level through to high performance. 

Tom Church, Managing Director of MJ Church Plant and Transport commented, “We are really excited to be supporting Ashleigh in her quest to be the next skeleton medal winner to have trained at the University of Bath.

“Being able to support our young athletes through the ambassador programme and see the positive results they are achieving has been very worthwhile.”

For more information about MJ Church, visit mjchurch.com.

Report courtesy of the Team Bath press office at Matchtight Ltd

Laura Deas and Jerry Rice will make their Olympic debuts at the Games, which are being staged in South Korea from February 9-25 – the skeleton medals will be decided on February 16 and 17.

The quartet compete for the British Bobsleigh & Skeleton Association (BBSA), based at the University, and do their UK training on the country’s only outdoor push-start track and in the high-performance gym at the Sports Training Village.

Yarnold, who memorably struck women’s skeleton gold at Sochi 2014, is one of four sliders to win medals at the Winter Olympic Games since the push-start track was first opened in 2001. Alex Coomber took bronze in Salt Lake City in 2002, Shelley Rudman claimed silver in Turin in 2006 and University graduate Amy Williams was famously crowned champion at Vancouver in 2010.

Both Yarnold – who finished fourth at last week’s IBSF World Cup meeting in Konigssee – and Deas, currently ranked seventh in the world, will be looking to continue that stunning run of podium success in the women’s competition, both having came through the successful Girls4Gold talent identification programme.

Making his second Olympic appearance in the men’s skeleton is Parsons, a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering at the University who finished tenth at Sochi 2014. He is joined by Rice, the 2016-17 Intercontinental Cup Champion who has competed in seven of the eight World Cup races this season.
For more information on skeleton at the University of Bath, visit www.teambath.com/skeleton.

Report courtesy of  the Team Bath press office at Matchtight

Sochi 2014 Olympian Parsons, who is studying Mechanical Engineering and supported by the University’s Dual Career programme, is joined in an experienced squad by David Swift, Laura Deas (pictured above) and Donna Creighton.

Parsons was seventh at last year’s World Championships and has recorded five top-ten finishes on the World Cup circuit during the 2015-16 season.

Deas heads to Austria ranked number four in the world having already claimed World Cup gold and bronze medals this season. She too was seventh at last year’s World Championships, which were won by fellow Brit Lizzy Yarnold.

Creighton – who has raced at three previous World Championships – and Swift both won their respective Intercontinental Cup crowns in 2015.

GB Skeleton Performance Director Andi Schmid said: “We have selected an experienced squad who all know what it takes to compete at the very top level and I have no doubt that they will do their country proud.

“Laura has medalled twice this year and we hope she will be challenging again in Igls, and Dom has shown real consistency to be ranked in the top six heading into the event.

“Donna has also been consistent on her return to the World Cup circuit and has lots of experience of the World Championships, while Swifty showed his potential in St Moritz [where he won Europa Cup gold] and will hope to take that momentum on to a track where he had success in the past.”

The men’s skeleton starts at 8.45am on Thursday, February 18 and concludes on Friday 19 at 2.30pm, with the women’s event scheduled for 8.45am on Friday 19 and the same time on Saturday 20.

GB’s skeleton athletes train at the University of Bath, using the unique outdoor push-track and world-class gym at the £30million Sports Training Village.

Report courtesy of the Team Bath press office at Matchtight Ltd.

The winners collected their prizes during a ceremony hosted by television broadcaster John Inverdale at Bath Racecourse, with Team Bath Netball U16s receiving the Junior Team of the Year award after reaching the national finals for the first time in a decade.

Yarnold retained the Professional Sports Personality of the Year accolade after completing a career grand-slam in 2015 by adding the World and European titles to her Olympic and World Cup crowns.

The British Skeleton athlete overcame stiff competition from swimmer Siobhan-Marie O’Connor, who trains in the London 2012 Legacy Pool, and rower Helen Glover, who began her glittering career on the GB Rowing Team Start Programme at the University of Bath. Both won world titles during 2015.

Gilliver was named as Disability Sports Performer of the Year after finishing 2015 top of the epee rankings and on course for Rio 2016 Paralympic Games qualification.

He took the award ahead of two other athletes who train at the University of Bath – athlete Sophie Kamlish, part of Rob Ellchuk’s training group, and badminton player Bobby Griffin, coached once a week by Pete Bush on the Team Bath Futures programme.

Team Bath Tennis – hosts of this week’s Aegon GB Pro-Series Tournament at the University of Bath – were finalists in the Community Club of the Year category and the British Swimming National Training Centre in Bath was shortlisted for Team of the Year.

Head Coach Dave McNulty was a finalist in the Coach of the Year category and University of Bath swimmer Jay Lelliott, coached by Mark Skimming, was shortlisted for the main Sports Personality of the Year prize.

Stephen Baddeley, Director of Sport at the University of Bath, attended the ceremony and said: “The variety of those gaining awards – from Olympic and world-level performers through to local volunteers – was a fantastic showcase for sport across our area.”

More information about the Bath Chronicle Sports Awards can be found at here.

Report courtesy of Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight Ltd.