Ashleigh Nelson – summer and winer Olympian
Last weekend (Winter Olympics were Feb. 6-Feb. 22, Winter Paralympic Games are March 6 to March 25), Ashleigh Nelson (brakewoman) and Adele Nicol (pilot) finished 15th in the two-women bobsleigh competition in Italy. The opening sentence couid have said Ashleigh Nelson (sprinter) and Adele Nicol (shot-putter)! The pair had a disappointing opening day finishing 20th but an excellent second day where they were 11th fastest moved them up to 15th.
It all started when Nicol invited Nelson down to the training centre in Bath to give it a try, Afterwards the coaches told Nelson “you are quite good on the track. Do you want to gave it a go on the ice?” She was good on the ice and they made me part of the team. nine months after that try-out in Bath I was on my way to the World Championships in Lake Placid, USA.
She describes her role: “I am the brakewoman so Adele and I push off the sled together. Adele jumps in and I push for a few more steps to keep the sled going as fast as possible. At the end Adele shouts loudly “Brake! Brake!” and I pull the brake which is essentially like a dead lift of about 170 KG. As we are going about 80mph you can imagine that it is a pretty epic deadlift at the end”.
I wondered if it felt as scary as it looked: “It was the first couple of times. But Adele is a brilliant pilot and I trust her with my life. I don’t think I realized how dangerous it was until later on in the season when I saw that there were some crashes and people can come out of the sled. Fear of what could happen is more scary than the actual feeling during the run, if that makes sense”.
As a sprinter, Nelson was selected for the 2012, 2016 and 2021 summer Olympics. In 2012 she was in the relay squad but did nit run. In 2016 she got injured and had to withdraw. In 2021 she got Covid and spent the Games in isolation in the Tokyo Olympic village.
In her Track career she was GB champion (2012), won World Championship bronze and silver relay medals, European individual bronze and two relay golds as well as Commonwealth relay bronze.
Ashleigh Nelson, Bianca Williams. Darryl Neita replaced Ashleigh Nelson
in the final. photo by England Athletics
Of the 2026 Winter Olympics she said: “I’m really, really happy with how today went. After yesterday, Adele has done a fantastic job to turn things around. I’m just so happy and elated to be at my fourth Olympic and first Winter Olympics. I’ve done it! It was really hard to keep our head in the game but it just goes to show what professionals we both are.”
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