Britain’s Amy Williams has won Team GB’s first gold medal of the Vancouver Winter Olympics in impressive style.
Williams lead from the first run and set two new course records in the process performing consistently throughout the competition. She wins Britain’s first individual gold medal at a winter games since Robin Cousins in 1980, and an historic first gold medal in skeleton.
Shelly Rudman, who took silver in Turin in 2006 finished in a very creditable sixth position.
Photo: www.jamesruskinphoto.com
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Related stories:
Skeleton: Shelley Rudman picks up third medal of the season
Skeleton: Williams matches career best
Sportsister meets Amy Williams
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During the competition there had been some controversy over Williams’s headgear, with protests from the United States and five other nations. They have claimed that ridges in her helmet gave the Brit an illegal aerodynamic advantage.
However the International Bobsleigh and Tobogganing Federation officially ruled that the ridges are integral to the design of the helmet and because it passed the pre-race check it is legal for racing.
Results:
Gold – Amy Williams, GB
Silver – Kerstin Szymkowiak, Ger
Bronze – Anja Huber, Ger
Danielle Sellwood, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
