British Bobsleigh Association
Bobsleigh duo to split up after disappointing finish
22 February 2006
From David Powell
www.timesonline.co.uk
ON THE track where Shelley Rudman had won her silver medal in the skeleton bobsleigh five days earlier, Nicola Minichiello and Jackie Davies flattered to deceive. Last night, they were unable to add Great Britain's second medal of these Games, having put in a fast second run on the first day of the women's bobsleigh to move within range of the podium.
They will not return to the Olympics to try again, at least not as a pair. After finishing ninth, in a race won by Sandra Kiriasis and Anja Schneiderheinze, from Germany, they confirmed that they would be competing in separate sleds from next season. Davies was Minichiello's brakewoman but she, too, wants to drive.
Davies used the Olympic stage to call for fresh talent to come into the sport. "We are looking for more girls to join us so, if you like what you saw, come and give it a go," Davies said.
Minichiello hopes that, as a result of their decision to split, Britain can have two teams on the World Cup women's circuit soon, rather than the one they have had up until now.
Bobsleigh was invented by British tourists on holiday in St Moritz in the late 1890s and the nation enjoyed its pinnacle when Tony Nash and Robin Dixon won the men's two-man Olympic title in 1964. When Minichiello and Davies finished second at the World Championships last season, it was a first success for British women's bobsleigh and raised hopes of a medal here.
ON THE track where Shelley Rudman had won her silver medal in the skeleton bobsleigh five days earlier, Nicola Minichiello and Jackie Davies flattered to deceive. Last night, they were unable to add Great Britain's second medal of these Games, having put in a fast second run on the first day of the women's bobsleigh to move within range of the podium.
They will not return to the Olympics to try again, at least not as a pair. After finishing ninth, in a race won by Sandra Kiriasis and Anja Schneiderheinze, from Germany, they confirmed that they would be competing in separate sleds from next season. Davies was Minichiello's brakewoman but she, too, wants to drive.
Davies used the Olympic stage to call for fresh talent to come into the sport. "We are looking for more girls to join us so, if you like what you saw, come and give it a go," Davies said.
Minichiello hopes that, as a result of their decision to split, Britain can have two teams on the World Cup women's circuit soon, rather than the one they have had up until now.
Bobsleigh was invented by British tourists on holiday in St Moritz in the late 1890s and the nation enjoyed its pinnacle when Tony Nash and Robin Dixon won the men's two-man Olympic title in 1964. When Minichiello and Davies finished second at the World Championships last season, it was a first success for British women's bobsleigh and raised hopes of a medal here.