Shelley Rudman

Shelley Rudman

Rudman holding British flag at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Medal record
Women's Skeleton
Representing Great Britain
Olympic Games
	2006 Turin	Women

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 originates from Pewsey, Wiltshire, but now lives in Sheffield, 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.

2006 Winter Olympics

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. Rudman also spent some time as a supply teacher in Devizes School, a secondary school located in Devizes, Wiltshire.

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 the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Skeleton World Cup Performances: 2007-09

Shelley's best finish at the FIBT World Championships was 10th in the women's skeleton event at St. Moritz in 2007.

She sat out the 2007-08 Skeleton World Cup season to give birth to her daughter Ella Marie, but made an impact on her return to the sport for the 2008-09 season. Shelley won the 2008-09 Skeleton World Cup event at Igls, Austria on 12 December 2008. She then earned her second medal of her 2008/09 World Cup campaign with a silver medal at Konigssee in Germany, in January 2009.

Success continued as Shelley 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. She finished the season 2nd in the overall World Rankings published by the FIBT.

FIBT World Cup: 2009/10 Season

Shelley repeated her feat of finishing the season in 2nd place overall in the World Cup, behind champion Melissa Hollingsworth of Canada. Highlights of the season were two Gold medal wins in Cesana and St. Moritz. The season's results were;

Round 1

Park City, USA — 4th place

Round 2

Lake Placid, USA — Silver Medal (2nd place)

Round 3

Cesana (Torino), Italy — Gold Medal (1st place)

Round 4

Winterberg, Germany — 4th place

Round 5

Altenberg, Germany — 7th place

Round 6

Konigssee, Germany — Bronze Medal (3rd place)

Round 7

St Moritz, Switzerland — Gold Medal (1st place)

Round 8

Igls, Austria — 4th place

The Igls race also counted as the 2010 European Championships, and Shelley finished with the Bronze Medal in 3rd place.

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. Other squad members included Amy Williams, with Kristan Bromley and Adam Pengilly in the men's competition.

Rudman was the flagbearer for Britain at those games.

She finished 6th overall in the women's skeleton, with fellow team member Amy Williams winning the gold.

Sponsorship

Shelley is supported by Bromley Technologies' Formula Ice 2010 programme. This sponsorship funded, high performance sports engineering initiative operates similarly to a mini Formula One team and seeks to add value to athlete performance through technological innovation and expertise. This unique programme currently supports Shelley, Kristan Bromley and Nicola Minichiello (Bobsleigh).

Equipment

Shelley uses skeleton bobsleighs designed and manufactured by fiance Kristan Bromley's company, Bromley Technologies Ltd, at the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP).

Personal life

Rudman is now engaged to fellow British skeleton competitor, Kristan Bromley, with whom she has had a child, born in October 2007.

Rudman and Bromley ICE are sponsored by global marketing agency, GyroHSR and the British shaving and skin care company King of Shaves. Kristan was also sponsored by King of Shaves for two years.

Charity Work

Rudman is currently an Athlete Ambassador for Right To Play, the world's leading sport for development charity.

See also

• Skeleton at the 2006 Winter Olympics

External links

• Official website
• Supporters website
• Bromley Technologies website
• Shelley Rudman at the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing
• Shelley Rudman Page on her sponsor's (King of Shaves) website

References

• Shelley Rudman at the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing
• King of Shaves Corporate Website profile of Rudman
• Women's skeleton Olympic medalists since 2002