4:01 AM
Sports Information
BOBSLEIGH The fruits of British Bobsleigh's talent ID scheme will be on show this weekend when six potential stars of the future take part in the first-ever Winter Youth Olympic Games.
Olly Biddulph, James Lelliot, Mica McNeil, Jazmin Sawyers, Kirsten Emery and Frances Slater are all athletes who have swapped track and field for the ice after being talent-spotted by the sport's UK governing body in Bath.
Now they are ready to race at speeds of up to 75mph against the world's best teenagers in Innsbruck, Austria in the inaugural Youth Games – and have not ruled out bringing home the ultimate memento.
"It would be quite nice to win a medal and we think we can, we are confident," said Lelliott, who will act as brakesman for driver Biddulph in the men's crew.
"We think there are probably about five other people that have a chance but we are capable of winning a medal.
"The experience of being out there with so many athletes from other countries and seeing all the other sports is going to be great."
Lelliott, 18, is a long jumper away from the ice and is determined to qualify for the 2013 World Athletics Championships in Moscow – but would also like to return to Russia the following year for the Sochi Winter Games.
"That is the plan," he said. "The bobsleigh still scares me to death but I love doing it so, while I want to have a break for a couple of years after next week, I want to come back to it in the future."
Lelliott is no stranger to a national tracksuit, having represented Britain at the European Youth Olympic Festival in 2009, and the same is true of fellow Millfield School sixth-former Sawyers.
The 17-year-old, who will be brakeswoman to McNeil in Austria, is a talented all-rounder and finished ninth in the heptathlon at last summer's IAAF World Youth Championships.
"It has been really busy for me, with training for bobsleigh in the winter and then going outdoors for athletics in the summer," said Sawyers.
"But it is something that I have really enjoyed as I love being a part of bobsleigh. I didn't know much about the sport to begin with but I have learned a fair bit now and Mica and I are confident we can get a medal in Austria.
"That is what we have been working towards and I think we are capable."
The six teenagers train at the University of Bath test-track with Olympic veteran Lee Johnston and are Britain's youngest-ever competitors, with bobsleigh having been deemed too dangerous for under-18s before the Youth Games were launched.
The British Olympic Association prepares and leads British athletes at the summer, winter and youth Olympic Games. It works in partnership with sport national governing bodies to enhance Olympic success and is responsible for championing the Olympic values.
Olly Biddulph, James Lelliot, Mica McNeil, Jazmin Sawyers, Kirsten Emery and Frances Slater are all athletes who have swapped track and field for the ice after being talent-spotted by the sport's UK governing body in Bath.
Now they are ready to race at speeds of up to 75mph against the world's best teenagers in Innsbruck, Austria in the inaugural Youth Games – and have not ruled out bringing home the ultimate memento.
"It would be quite nice to win a medal and we think we can, we are confident," said Lelliott, who will act as brakesman for driver Biddulph in the men's crew.
"We think there are probably about five other people that have a chance but we are capable of winning a medal.
"The experience of being out there with so many athletes from other countries and seeing all the other sports is going to be great."
Lelliott, 18, is a long jumper away from the ice and is determined to qualify for the 2013 World Athletics Championships in Moscow – but would also like to return to Russia the following year for the Sochi Winter Games.
"That is the plan," he said. "The bobsleigh still scares me to death but I love doing it so, while I want to have a break for a couple of years after next week, I want to come back to it in the future."
Lelliott is no stranger to a national tracksuit, having represented Britain at the European Youth Olympic Festival in 2009, and the same is true of fellow Millfield School sixth-former Sawyers.
The 17-year-old, who will be brakeswoman to McNeil in Austria, is a talented all-rounder and finished ninth in the heptathlon at last summer's IAAF World Youth Championships.
"It has been really busy for me, with training for bobsleigh in the winter and then going outdoors for athletics in the summer," said Sawyers.
"But it is something that I have really enjoyed as I love being a part of bobsleigh. I didn't know much about the sport to begin with but I have learned a fair bit now and Mica and I are confident we can get a medal in Austria.
"That is what we have been working towards and I think we are capable."
The six teenagers train at the University of Bath test-track with Olympic veteran Lee Johnston and are Britain's youngest-ever competitors, with bobsleigh having been deemed too dangerous for under-18s before the Youth Games were launched.
The British Olympic Association prepares and leads British athletes at the summer, winter and youth Olympic Games. It works in partnership with sport national governing bodies to enhance Olympic success and is responsible for championing the Olympic values.
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