Bob girls eye a gold rush
ANYONE can be a hit on YouTube – a talking dog, a cackling but cute baby and even Susan Boyle.
But long jumper and pole vaulte-turned-Olympic bobsleigh hopeful Gillian Cooke is determined to move on from her brush with internet fame.
Over six million have watched her high-profile wardrobe malfunction at a recent World Cup event in St Moritz, when her skin-tight suit split and left just a skimpy thong covering her modesty.
But now she’s keen to make headlines for very different reasons, as alongside fellow world champion Nicola Minichiello she looks to win Great Britain’s first bobsleigh gold since Robin Nash and Tony Dixon’s Innsbruck triumph in 1964.
But before the girls can dream of a historic gold, first they most negotiate the terrifying Whistler track – not that Cooke is showing any fear.
“Whistler is the ultimate track – it is a real test of the driver’s skill,” she said. “It is a really exciting venue for the Olympics to be staged at and I can’t wait to get back on it.”
The British pair are due to begin their first heat at around 1am tomorrow morning and are confident they can match Amy Williams’ gold-medal efforts in the women’s luge at the weekend.
Cooke added: “We’ve been down that track hundreds of times in our heads and we think we’ll be as finely tuned as possible when it really matters. Winning the world title gave us a massive amount of confidence and instead of imagining what it is like to win we now know exactly what it takes.”
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DAY 12 | BRITS IN ACTION
5pm (GMT): Curling: Women’s – Canada v Great Britain
6.30pm: Freestlye Skiing: Women’s Ski Cross – Sarah Sauvey
10pm: Curling: Men’s – Great Britain v Norway
12.30pm: Figure Skating: Women’s Short Cross – Jenna McCorkell
1am & 2am: Bobsleigh: Women’s (heats one and two)- Nicola Minichiello and Gillian Cooke, Paula Walker and Kelly Thomas