Bobsleigh with Team GB's Montell Douglas
Montell Douglas started her sporting career as a sprinter and competed at the 2008 summer Olympics both in the 100m and the 4 x 100m relay. You might be wondering how she ended up training for the winter Olympics as part of the bobsleigh team but actually it’s quite common.
We often talk about transferable skills in sport and the transition from sprinting to bobsleigh is a perfect example. Bobsleigh needs fast feet at the beginning of the race in order to make a good time and Montell was chosen for this very reason. There is an overlap in coaching staff and ‘scouts’ and Montell was identified early on as a potential for the bobsleigh team.
She recalls the first time she had a go at bobsleigh as the brake woman who sits at the back: ‘I got down to the bottom and Mica (Mica McNeill, the pilot in the bobsleigh) asked if I was OK. I said that I was but inside I wasn’t sure if I could do it again, you have to do it twice. The G-force, the whiplash, the positioning of my spine … I was scared. But I did do it again and six months later I was competing in the World Championships and now I’m training to make the team for the Winter Olympics, so I guess I love it!’
Montell speaks to me from Germany where a) there’s snow and b) training facilities – two essentials for success! It’s hard to get into bobsleigh in the UK as there isn’t a track in our country – you can’t just pop along to your local club like you might be able to do with other sports. But there is a way in: up-and-coming bobsleigh athletes are identified, as Montell was, through other sports such as athletics (lots of disciplines, not just sprinting). If you’re fast and competing for your county or nationally as a junior, you may well be spotted. If you want to compete at an elite level, ‘grab opportunities when they come along!’ says Montell.
Sport makes Montell feel free and her true self – she felt like that on the track and she has the same feeling thanks to bobsleigh. She was used to being on her own in athletics, but she likes bobsleigh for the team element.
As I type, Team McNeill has just achieved two PBs in their 20th World Cup Race – well done to Mica and Montell and fingers crossed for winter Olympics’ selection!
