BBA NEWS

February 2007

Welcome to the latest British Bobsleigh Association’s newsletter. Keeping you in touch with our sport, its Elite athletes, the new coaching team and of course updates on member activities and opportunities for you to get involved with YOUR Association.

It has certainly been an action-packed couple of weeks for BobTeamGB, who competed in the World Championships in St Moritz, Switzerland from January 22nd until February 4th 2007.

The St. Moritz Bobsleigh Club, the world’s only natural-ice bobsleigh run, hosted this winter’s Bob and Skeleton World Championships - the 35th of its kind. Opened in 1890, the training runs of St Moritz, combined with the highly competitive racing in 2-man and 4-man bob and skeleton sledges, attract the world’s most elite ice-sliding athletes.

Congratulations to all of the team, in particular to the 4-man bobs, who achieved our best ever results in the World Championships, as the only country other than the home nation to gain two top ten positions.

Race Report
Saturday, February 3rd & 4th - Men’s 4-man
The GB1 sled was driven by Royal Marine Lee Johnston with crew  Corporal Steve Smith (ARMY), Allyn Condon and Dan Money who were recruited to BobTeamGB from athletics this season by Performance Director Richard Simmons.

The GB2 sled was driven by Army Corporal Neil Scarisbrick with Marine John Jackson, Captain Karl Johnston (Royal Marine) and Richard Sharman from the Royal Air Force.

The GB1 crew had average start times in a sled 40kg heavier than the competition, but Lee Johnston had two excellent drives down the historic St Moritz track. Scaz and his crew had had average starts but again, the driving by Neil was exceptional.

GB1 Lee Johnston's team were in an exciting 6th place at the halfway point of the competition; the Bronze medal was within touching distance. GB2 Neil Scarisbrick’s team were in 13th place with the top ten in sight.

On day 2, the GB1 sled had the fastest finish time in the 3rd run, beating all the other teams down the mountain, this moved Lee and his crew up into 5th position overall. This was especially impressive as they had some of the slower starts in the race. The GB2 sled also had an excellent run, getting the 6th fastest finish time in the 3rd run off a slow start. This moved the GB2 sled into tied 9th position with 2 other nations.

In the final run GB2 crew improved upon their start time by 4/100th second in the last run and Neil had another consistent run down the track, beating the other 2 teams who had tied for 9th place after the 3rd run to gain outright 9th position. The GB1 sled was the 16th sled to go. Lee and his crew also improved upon their start time and Lee had yet another great drive. Their finish time was good enough to keep them in 5th place ahead of the Russia I crew.

A further report can be viewed on the website.

Richard Simmons said: "An absolutely fantastic result. In run 3, Lee was the fastest of everyone with the top speed."

"Neil Scarisbrick gained the 2nd top speed in the third run and Lee achieved fastest sled above all the teams which got us from 6th place to 5th. Neil did a great job of keeping hold of 9th position."

He added: "It’s the best we have ever done, it's just brilliant."

The final results were;
1st Switzerland 1
2nd Canada 1
3rd Germany 1
4th USA 1
5th GB 1
6th Russia 1
7th Latvia 1
8th Switzerland 2
9th GB 2
10th Monaco 1

"We were up against some stiff competition and the fact that we managed to come in before the Russian team is a wonderful result," Richard said.

Some of Britain’s top athletes joined the team and included record breaking Round The World sailor, Ellen MacArthur.

Taking time out from sailing, Ellen MacArthur took part in the St Moritz bobsleigh run on Friday, February 2nd.

Extract taken from The Telegraph:
"I'm converted," she said. "I'm going into bobsleigh for ever."

"The adrenalin was great," said MacArthur. "If only around the world was over in 1min 15sec. But we get that adrenalin rush too and sometimes it lasts for days and you can't switch it off. When it's an all-day thing, it's really wearing.

"It's a huge parallel to sailing in the Southern Ocean at night," she said at the bottom of the run. "I thought it would feel fast. Then you go faster, then faster and you think 'hang on a moment!' It was a pretty amazing sensation.

“To be able to speak to the British team was great," added MacArthur. "They said 'you've got a tough job' and I was thinking 'it can't be tougher than yours!'"

1964 Gold Medallists Tony Nash and Robin Dixon also attended the World Champs, to pass on some useful advice and support to the team, as well as celebrating 50 years since coming together as a team.

Performance Director Richard Simmons, said: "Tony and Robin have really enhanced the team’s moral and they gave some valuable tips and support.”

World Championships Race Report
Women’s 2-Man
The women’s 2-man race took place on Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd February with the GB1 sled piloted by Nicola Minichiello (brakewoman Lauren Therin). Nicola and Lauren achieved the 9th best start of the World Championships and came in 16th overall.

The GB2 sled piloted by Jackie Davies (brakewoman Paula Walker) finished in 14th place. This is Jackie’s first full season as a driver having braked for Nicola Minichiello in last years Olympic Games. Lauren Therin is another of Richard Simmons' new recruits from GB Athletics and is currently AAA U23 Javelin Champion.

Mens 2-Man
Lee Johnston and Henry Nwume in the GB1 2-man achieved 19th place, and Martin Wright and Dan Money finished at 25th in Martin’s first World Champs.

Bobsleigh is sliding to our screens!
Bobsleigh is returning to our TV screens on February 11th and 18th.
There will be a half hour screening of World Championship highlights on Channel 4 at 8am on the 11th; there will also be a one-hour programme on February 18th.

Chairman of the British Bobsleigh Association, Peter Shakeshaft, said: "This is such a major step forward, we are delighted."

Keep an eye on the website for forthcoming details of the programmes.

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