BBA NEWS

April 2008

Welcome to the end of season British Championships special edition of the British Bobsleigh Association’s newsletter.

We would like to thank all our sponsors and members for their support this season.  It was fantastic to see a number of you at the British Championships in February – we’re looking forward to the next British Championships, which will take place at Cesana, Italy, in November 2008!

Lord Glentoran, BBA President, and Bruce Ropner, BBA Chairman, at this years British Championships in Igls, Austria.

BRITISH BOBSLEIGH CHAMPIONSHIPS 2008

The AON British Bobsleigh, Skeleton and Luge Championships were held at Igls in Austria in the last week of February 2008.  The Bobsleigh Races were held on 29th February 2008 and saw large entry numbers for the Men’s and Women's 2-Man and 4-Man Competitions, with a total of 35 entries.

WOMEN'S 2-MAN BOBSLEIGH

The Women's Race was won by the GB1 pairing of Nicola Minichiello/Lauren Therin who successfully retained their British Champions title.
Second place was a closely fought race between Paula Walker/Heather Fisher and Jackie Davies/Kelly Thomas, with Paula/Heather ahead by just 0.05 seconds after the two runs.

The Novice Driver Award for the highest finishing driver in her first British Championships went to Paula Walker and the Best Brakeman Award for the fastest start time went to Lauren Therin.

Deni Milner/Claire Garrett were forced to withdraw from the Women's Race after discovering a broken bolt on the rear axle fixing of their bobsleigh.

1st        Nicola Minichiello / Lauren Therin            1:49.70
2nd       Paula Walker / Heather Fisher       1:50.60
3rd        Jackie Davies / Kelly Thomas        1:50.65

Click here for full results

MEN’S 2-MAN BOBSLEIGH

The 2-Man Race was won by Royal Marines John Jackson/Jamie Devlin with the Army pairing of John Hillman/Henry Nwume in second place.

The Novice Driver Award for the highest finishing driver in his first British Championships went to Steve Stewart, and the Best Brakeman Award for the fastest start time went to Jamie Devlin.

1st        John Jackson / Jamie Devlin        1:47.48
2nd       John Hillman / Henry Nwume        1:47.95
3rd        Martin Wright / Glen Kerr   1:47.97

Click here for full results

MEN’S  4-MAN BOBSLEIGH

The 4-Man Race saw a close contest between Lee Johnston/Karl Johnston/John Jackson/Jamie Devlin and three returning bronze medallists from the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics; Sean Olsson, Courtney Rumbolt and Dean Ward, who were joined by Steve 'Smudge' Smith.  After beating the start time of the Lee Johnston bobsleigh, Sean Olsson's team led after the first run and just missed out to the victorious Lee Johnston and his team by 0.05 seconds after the second run.

The 4-Man team of Martin Wright/Glen Kerr/Keith McLaughlin/Kenny Simm were forced to withdraw after discovering a problem with their bobsleigh, though Glen and Keith were able to compete in other teams as substitutes for injured athletes.

1st        Lee Johnston / Karl Johnston / John Jackson / Jamie Devlin 1:46.72
2nd       Sean Olsson / Courtney Rumbolt / Steve Smith / Dean Ward 1:46.79
3rd        John Hillman / Keith McLaughlin / Lamin Deen / Scott Allaway         1:47.94

Click here for full results

SKELETON & LUGE

In the Skeleton, World Junior silver medalist Dave Swift ended his first season as a slider with victory and Amy Williams retained her women’s title. The Luge competition saw 2006 Olympian AJ Rosen continue to stake his claim for Vancouver after 2007 Olympic Athlete of the Year Mark Hatton’s retirement. Rachel Keen won the women’s Luge event.

Well done and thank you to all those who participated in the British Championships at Igls, Austria.  We hope to see you again in November!

Featured Sponsor – AON

Headquartered in Chicago, AON – one of the BBA’s main sponsors – has built broad global resources to create innovative solutions in insurance and risk management, human capital consulting, and insurance underwriting to help clients.  The name is Gaelic for "oneness."  AON live by their name bringing together top professionals working across hundreds of disciplines in a seamless, integrated fashion to serve their clients in the most personal manner possible, virtually anywhere in the world. This focus and dedication has made the company a world leader within its industry.

With an employee base of 43,000 people working in 500 offices in more than 20 countries, AON recognised many years ago that their clients want products and services built around their unique needs, provided by professionals with deep expertise in their industries and local markets.  AON recognised globalisation demanded two capabilities: gather the best thinking from around the world and then deliver solutions locally.  With worldwide distribution, a vast base of intellectual capital, and leading technology, they have built a professional services company to achieve these important goals – all focused on areas increasingly in demand: insurance brokerage, risk management, and human capital consulting.

For more information visit the AON website: http://www.aon.com/

Special thanks to AON who sponsored the 2008 British Championships, in Igls, Austria.

Bobsleigh on TV!

The sport of Bobsleigh has featured on two prime-time Saturday night ITV1 programmes in the past couple of months:

Thank God You’re Here

Bobsleigh made a brief appearance on the comedy show ‘Thank God You’re Here’ on Saturday 2nd February.  The show, hosted by Paul Merton, throws four celebrities into a surprise scene, where in front of a live audience and with no script to follow, they are asked to improvise and perform a sketch.

The show borrowed four of our British Bobsleigh Association sponsor jackets and helmets.  These were worn in the scene which featured Vernon Kay, Kirsten O’Brien, James Corden and Phil Nichol.  The feature provided great entertainment and helped bring Great British Bobsleigh into the public eye.

Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway

Ant and Dec paid a special visit to this years British Championships in Igls to film for their hit Saturday night show!  As part of their weekly Ant v Dec challenge, Ant and Dec along with their teams of celebrities went head-to-head to see who could complete the track in the fastest time.   Ant was victorious in the end, but both thoroughly enjoyed their bobsleigh experience.

Lee Johnston played a key role in the show, giving Ant, Dec and their teams, comprising of Lee Sharp, Bonnie Langford, Melinda Messenger and Jason “J” Brown, a tour of the Igls Olympic bobsleigh track and was driver for both teams.

Click here to find out more about Ant and Dec's bobsleigh challenge!

With the 2007/2008 season over, we would like to thank all our sponsors, members and readers for their support and hard work.   Details will soon be published for the forthcoming British Championships in November 2008.  We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter and welcome any comments and suggestions you have for topics that you would like to see featured, email jo.ashton@bobteamgb.org