Douglas makes Team GB Olympic history

Douglas makes Team GB Olympic history

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Mica McNeill and Montell Douglas competing in the two-woman bobsleigh
Mica McNeill and Montell Douglas competing in the two-woman bobsleigh
Hosts: Beijing, China Dates: 4-20 February
Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button and online; listen on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds; live text and highlights on BBC Sport website and app

Montell Douglas will become the first British woman to compete in different sports at both the summer and winter Olympic Games after being named in the Team GB bobsleigh squad for Beijing.

Douglas will be brakewoman in Mica McNeill’s two-woman sled, four years after being the team’s reserve in Pyeongchang.

She competed in the 100m at the Beijing summer Olympics in 2008.

“It’s very special because it has been very, very challenging,” she said.

Speaking to BBC Sport, Douglas – who turns 36 on Monday – added: “It’s such a strange feeling. Beforehand, I had thoughts of how it would feel, but I think it’s more of a relief.

“I’m over the moon to be representing women. There have been many male summer and winter Olympians, so I’m more thrilled about leaving a legacy like that behind than anything else.

“To come full circle, after 14 years and at the end of my career, that blows my mind. You’re never too old, it’s never too late, you should always dream and dream big.”

Ethel Muckelt competed in figure skating at the 1920 summer Olympics, before the Winter Olympics was established in 1924.

McNeill, who competed at Pyeongchang 2018, said: “It’s been a very different journey to the Games this time round but I’ve loved every moment of making it happen. I can’t wait to get back on the ice out there and represent Team GB.”

Team Hall
Team Hall have won multiple World Cup medals this season

Brad Hall, Greg Cackett, Nick Gleeson and Taylor Lawrence will compete in the four-man bobsleigh in Beijing, while Hall and Gleeson will compete in the two-man.

Pilot Hall’s crews have won a combined six medals on the World Cup circuit this season, and enter the Games ranked fourth and fifth in the world in the four-man and two-man respectively.

“We said at the start of the season that we wanted to be competing with the best in the world on a consistent basis and we’ve shown that we can do that. The boys have regularly been among the best starters in the world, too, and we’re heading to Beijing full of confidence,” said 31-year-old Hall.

“We’re at the business end of the season and it’s now all about giving it everything we’ve got at the Olympics, knowing that we’ve got a realistic chance of coming home with a medal.”

Adele Nicoll and Ben Simons will travel as reserves.

But Greg Rutherford’s Winter Olympic dreams are over after his four-man sled, piloted by Lamin Deen, failed to qualify for the Games.

London 2012 long jump champion Rutherford made his bobsleigh World Cup debut earlier in January.

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