Commonwealth gold medallist Katherine Endacott will trade her running shoes for some winter woollens after clinching a place on Great Britain’s bobsleigh team. The 30-year-old from Devon impressed on a dry-slope trial at the University of Bath and feels confident in her abilities to make the switch.
“I’m a good sprinter and a good starter, so it’s good for them to have somebody with speed to push the bobsleigh down.” Endacott told the BBC.
Endacott, who was one of the success stories of the 2010 Commonwealth Games after a double-medal haul - a silver in 100m and a gold in the 4x100m relay - is not the first athlete to juggle playing different sports.
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Michael Jordan ditched the Chicago Bulls in 1994 for an upstart baseball career and English cricket legend Ian Botham made several league appearances for Scunthorpe United before shooting to prominence on the 1981 Ashes tour of Australia.
But unlike Botham and Jordan, Endacott’s move is for the long term and she plans to get plenty of practice ahead of the next Winter Olympics - Sochi 2014 in Russia.
“I’ve not been on a proper bobsleigh, just a dry slope with a makeshift one. The closest thing for me where I can practise on a dry-slope is Bath.”
Endacott will hope to follow in the footsteps of Nicola Minichiello, a former heptathlete, and Minichiello’s team mate Gillian Cooke, who competed in long jump, in making a successful crossover from track-and-field to winter sports. Minichiello and Cooke won gold at the 2009 World Championships in Lake Placid, New York.
Endacott has big shoes to fill and expects to feel nervous ahead of her much-anticipated debut on the ice.
“Eventually they’ll need to get me out on to the ice to get used to pushing the bobsleigh, so that’s going to be a bit nerve-racking.” Endacott said.
Jourdan Rhule, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
