Shelley Rudman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Olympic medal record | |||
| Women's Skeleton | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Silver | 2006 Turin | Skeleton | |
Shelley Rudman (born 23 March 1981) is a British Olympic athlete. She won a silver medal at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in skeleton; the only medal for Great Britain at the games. She lives in Pewsey, Wiltshire, England.
She took up the sport of skeleton after watching Briton Alex Coomber win a bronze medal at the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics. A year later in 2003, she was placed 10th in the World Junior Championships for skeleton. In 2004 she won the Europa Cup in Igls, Austria. In 2005 she won gold in the World University Games.
In order for her to take part in the 2006 Olympics, Shelley needed £4000 to pay for a new professional sled. Her home town held a special canoe race to help raise the money, and they succeeded.
By the time the 2006 Winter Olympics began in Turin, Shelley said she was aiming for a top 10 position, however during a practice run, she had the fastest time, even beating the World Champion of the time. This great performance in the practice run made the public become aware of her. In the first heat, she was 4th, however after a brilliant second heat, she finished with a silver medal. Live television pictures were shown from her local pub, where a large crowd that had gathered to watch her race were cheering and celebrating her victory. The 2006 Olympics were only intended to be a stepping-stone for her as training for 2010 Winter Olympics.
She is the girlfriend of fellow British skeleton competitor, Kristan Bromley.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
 |
This English biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 This article about a Winter Olympic medalist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
