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Shelley Rudman

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Shelley Rudman
Rudman in 2015
Personal information
Born (1981-03-23) 23 March 1981 (age 43)[1]
EducationBSc Sports Science - St Mary’s, Twickenham. Coach Education & Sports Performance - Bath University
OccupationInternational Sports Consultancy. Owner of Shelley Rudman (SR) Gym & Personal Training.
Height169 cm (5 ft 7 in)[2]
Weight56 kg (123 lb)
Sport
Country Great Britain
SportSkeleton
Medal record
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2006 Turin Women
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2013 St. Moritz Women
Skeleton World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2011–2012 Women
Silver medal – second place 2008–09 Women
Silver medal – second place 2009–10 Women
Silver medal – second place 2010–11 Women
Bronze medal – third place 2012-13 Women
European Bob and Skeleton Championships
Gold medal – first place 2009 St. Moritz Women
Gold medal – first place 2011 St. Moritz Women
Silver medal – second place 2006 Igls Women
Silver medal – second place 2014 Germany Women
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Winterberg Women
Bronze medal – third place 2012 Germany Women
Winter Universiade
Gold medal – first place 2005 Innsbruck Women's Skeleton
British Skeleton ranking
Gold medal – first place 2004 -2012 Women's Skeleton

Shelley Rudman (born 23 March 1981) is a skeleton bobsleigh athlete who was the 2013 world champion in the event. She won a silver medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics, and is a former World Cup and European champion.

Early life and education

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Rudman was born in Swindon,[3] and later lived in Pewsey, Wiltshire, where she attended Pewsey Vale School.[4] She later attended New College, Swindon.[3]

She took up skeleton in October 2002, after a university friend and skeleton athlete introduced her to the sport at the University of Bath push track. At the time, she was working full-time at the ACS International Schools, Cobham, Surrey and was in her third year of a Bachelor of Science degree course at St Mary's College, Twickenham.[citation needed]

Early career

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After unsuccessfully seeking a place on Bath University's skeleton development team, she decided to apply for an ice school in Norway run by the British military to pursue the sport.[citation needed]

The following season in 2003 (after having only three weeks on-ice training since starting the sport), she qualified for the World Junior Championships where she finished in 10th position and was the highest-ranked British woman.[citation needed] In 2004, she won the Europa Cup in Igls, Austria. In 2005, she won gold in the World University Games, held in Innsbruck, Austria.[5]

2006 Winter Olympics

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In order to take part in the 2006 Olympics, Rudman needed £4,000 to buy a new sled. Her home town held a sponsored canoe event (canoeing from Pewsey to Bath, where she was training) to help raise the money.[6] Rudman also spent some time working as a supply teacher at Devizes School, a secondary school in Devizes, Wiltshire.[citation needed]

By the time the 2006 Winter Olympics began in Turin, Rudman said she was aiming for a top 10 position; however, during a practice run she had the fastest time. In the first heat, she was 4th; after the second heat, she finished with a silver medal.[7] 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.[4] On her return to Pewsey, the village put on an open top bus tour where thousands of people attended to witness her return.[8]

Skeleton World Cup performances: 2007–2009

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After a summer of media commitments after winning her silver medal, Rudman returned to the British selection races in Lillehammer where she set an unofficial track record. During the season an ongoing knee injury flared up; she had intensive physiotherapy to get her through the remaining World Cup rounds, before returning to the UK after the World Championships in St Moritz to have immediate knee surgery.[citation needed]

Rudman's best finish at the FIBT World Championships was 10th in the women's skeleton event at St. Moritz in 2007. She later announced that she was to become a mother in October and would be taking half the following season off.[9]

She sat out the 2007–08 Skeleton World Cup season to give birth to her daughter Ella Marie and have a knee operation (although she returned to the Inter-continental circuit in North America in January where she finished second (Park City) and won the penultimate race in Lake Placid), and made an impact on her return to the sport for the 2008–09 season. Rudman won the 2008–09 Skeleton World Cup event at Igls, Austria on 12 December 2008.[10] She then earned her second medal of her 2008/09 World Cup campaign with a silver medal at Königssee in Germany, in January 2009.

She won the 2009 European Bob Skeleton Championships at the St Moritz track in Switzerland, breaking the track record with a time of 1:09.97 on her second run.

FIBT World Cup: 2009–10 season

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Rudman repeated her feat of finishing the season in 2nd place overall in the World Cup, behind champion Mellissa Hollingsworth of Canada. Over the 8-round seasons, she took gold medal wins in Cesana and St. Moritz, a second place in Lake Placid and a third place at Konigssee. The last race of the season in Igls, Austria, also counted as the 2010 European Championships, and Rudman finished with the bronze medal in 3rd place.[circular reference]

2010 Winter Olympics

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Rudman carrying the British flag at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics

On 29 January 2010, Rudman was officially announced as part of the Team GB Skeleton Bobsleigh squad to compete at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. She was the flagbearer for Britain at those games.

An hour's delay to the race start affected the settings Rudman had chosen for the first run, which resulted in her finishing low in the overall standings after day one. The following day, after analysing and changing her settings, she set the fastest time of the day, breaking her push start personal best, but the time deficit from the previous day was too much to catch up and she finished 6th overall in the women's skeleton – just missing out on claiming a second Olympic medal. The gold was won by fellow British competitor Amy Williams.

FIBT World Cup: 2011–12 season

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After coming second in the Skeleton World Cup for the previous three years, Rudman secured the World Cup title at the end of the 2011–12 season. A third place finish in the last race of the season in Calgary, Canada, gave the UK athlete her fifth podium finish of the season and moved her to the top of the final rankings ahead of German duo Marion Thees (2nd) and Anja Huber (3rd).[11]

World rankings progression

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  • 2007–08 36th
  • 2008–09 2nd
  • 2009–10 2nd
  • 2010–11 2nd
  • 2011–12 1st
  • 2012–13 7th
  • 2013–14 3rd

Based on end of season FIBT rankings.[citation needed]

Personal life

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Rudman is married to fellow British skeleton competitor Kristan Bromley, with whom she has a daughter born in October 2007,[12] and another in January 2015.[13][14]

In February 2016, Rudman was nominated to be an International Olympic Committee Athlete Role Model for the Winter Youth Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.

In 2017, Rudman set up a fitness gym business in her home county of Wiltshire.[15]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Shelley Rudman". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  2. ^ "Shelley Rudman". BBC. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  3. ^ a b Eaton, Dave (18 February 2006). "Slide rule!". Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  4. ^ a b Morris, Steven (17 February 2006). "Pewsey's first Olympic Medal". The Guardian.
  5. ^ "RESULTSBOOK: SKELETON 22nd WINTER UNIVERSIADE" (PDF). Innsbruck Winter Universiade 2005 main results. International University Sports Federation (FISU). Retrieved 22 January 2005.
  6. ^ "Not Just Anybody: Shelley Rudman". The Times.
  7. ^ "Shelley wins Silver Medal in Bobsleigh". The Daily Telegraph. 17 February 2006.
  8. ^ "Welcome Back Shelley!". Swindon Advertiser. 6 March 2006.
  9. ^ "Pewsey's Olympic star announces baby plans". Gazette & Herald. 25 April 2007.
  10. ^ Rudman claims World Cup gold in Igls Morethanthegames – The Online destination for Olympic sports news, 12 December 2008
  11. ^ Magee, Andrew. "Shelley Rudman crowned skeleton World Cup champion". The Sport Review. The Sport Review Ltd. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  12. ^ "Rudman aims to get back training". BBC Sport. 29 October 2007.
  13. ^ "Shelley Rudman to miss season after announcing pregnancy". BBC. 27 September 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  14. ^ "Yay, skeleton team babies!!!!". 19 January 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015 – via Twitter.
  15. ^ Mills, Richard (15 May 2017). "From skeleton bob to personal gym for Shelley Rudman". Gazette & Herald. Newsquest Media Group. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
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Olympic Games
Preceded by Flagbearer for  Great Britain
Vancouver 2010
Succeeded by