"Ashleigh Nelson was never meant to be in the Winter Olympics. If you'd asked her 18 months ago where she expected to be competing this week, she would have told you she would be at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham running the 60m at the UK Indoor Championships, not standing at the top of the world's newest ice track riding a 75,000 bobsleigh."
"I didn't know anything about it before I went down, I'd never seen a crash. I didn't even know people did crash, the closest I'd ever come to a bobsleigh before was watching Cool Runnings, Nelson says, ahead of the two-woman bob, which starts official practice on Tuesday afternoon before the competition on Friday. Nelson's idea of speed was what she could achieve on her own two feet."
"She is one of the most decorated female sprinters GB has ever had. She was part of 4x100m relay teams that won gold medals in the European Championships in 2014 and the Commonwealth Games in 2022, and silver and bronze medals at the World Athletics Championships in 2013 and 2019, as well as an individual bronze and silver medals at the European and the World Junior and World Youth Championships."
Ashleigh Nelson accepted an invitation to try bobsleigh after a message from GB bob pilot Adele Nicole. Nelson previously achieved multiple relay and individual medals at European, World Junior, World Youth, World Athletics, and Commonwealth events. An Achilles injury required surgery and sidelined her for a year, disrupting Olympic ambitions and prompting retirement considerations at age 32. Nelson moved into the two-woman bobsleigh alongside Adele Nicole and arrived at the world's newest ice track to prepare for official practice and upcoming competition later in the week.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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