| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British |
| Born | 13 November 1986 Broseley, Shropshire, England |
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) |
| Weight | 90 kg (200 lb; 14 st) |
| Sport | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sport |  Bobsleigh |
| Club | GB Team |
| Coached by | Michael Khmel Denis Doyle |
Ben Simons (born 13 November 1986) [1] is a British bobsleigher and former athlete. [1] He qualified for the 2014 Winter Olympics in the 4-man discipline as part of Great Britain 2 team, behind pilot Lamin Deen, [2] performing as the brakeman. [1]
Simons was born in 1986 in Broseley, England. As a boy, he was a talented athlete, and he represented Wenlock Olympians at the age of eight. Simons progressed to competitive athletics, joining Telford Athletics club where he initially specialised in the long jump and triple jump. In 2008 he was accepted into University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC) and joined the University's athletics club. [3] While at Cardiff, he began to concentrate more on his sprinting competing in the 60m and 100m events. [4] He achieved some success as a sprinter, becoming Welsh 60m champion. [5] Simons attended William Brookes School.
In 2012 while at UWIC he replied to an advert from British Bobsleigh who were searching for 'future Olympians'. He was accepted into the team, and was soon competing at international level. [5] It was announced on 22 January 2014 that Simons would be competing in the bobsleigh for Great Britain at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, in the four-man bobsleigh; racing in the second team (GBR2) [1] along with John Baines, Craig Pickering and pilot Lamin Deen. Commenting on the news, Simons said that "It means the world to me to be selected to compete for Team GB at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games". [6] It was his debut Olympics. [1]
In the process of qualification for GBR2, Simons said that there was a nervous tension, but that they got through to competing at the Olympics. [7] In the run-up to the 2014 Olympics, Pickering was forced to pull out of the event due to a back injury and was replaced at short notice by Andrew Matthews. [8] In the finals GBR2 finished in nineteenth place. [9]
Gregory James Rutherford MBE is a retired British track and field athlete who specialised in the long jump. He represented Great Britain at the Olympics, World and European Championships, and England at the Commonwealth Games. In September 2021 Rutherford was selected as part of the British bobsleigh team but was injured during preparations to qualify for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Dr Craig Keith Pickering is an English retired sprinter and bobsleigher. As a sprinter, he was based at the Marshall Milton Keynes Athletics Club; however, he also ran for the University of Bath and Newham and Essex Beagles. Following his retirement from professional sport, he became an academic researcher and gained a professional doctorate in sports performance from the University of Central Lancashire. He relocated to Australia in 2015 and currently works as director of performance sustainability at Athletics Australia.
Simeon Oscar Williamson is an English bobsledder and former track and field sprinter who specialised in the 100 metres. Williamson, a London native, is the second cousin to 2008 Beijing Olympics silver medalist British high jumper Germaine Mason. He is coached by Lloyd Cowan, and his athletics club is Highgate Harriers. He is a former British 100 metres champion.
Lee Johnston is an English bobsledder who debuted in 1995. Competing in three Winter Olympics, he earned his best finish of tenth in the two-man event at Salt Lake City in 2002.
Paul Narracott was the first Australian sportsperson to have represented Australia at both a Summer and Winter Olympics.
Montell Marcelle Douglas is a British multi-sports Olympian. Originally a sprinter and former British record holder for the 100 metres at 11.05 seconds, she competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Taking up bobsleigh in 2016 and becoming part of the Great Britain two-woman bobsleigh team the following year, she competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics. She is one of the two athletes, the other being Jaqueline Mourão, who participated in both of the Olympic Games hosted by Beijing.
Gillian Cooke is a Scottish track and field athlete and bobsledder. She was born and brought up in Edinburgh, and educated at George Watson's College. She began her sporting career in track and field with Edinburgh Southern Harriers. In 2001, she took fourth place in the triple jump at the Commonwealth Youth Games, and set a Scottish junior record for the pole vault. She set three Scottish senior records in the pole vault in two months in 2002, and was selected to represent Scotland in that event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.
John James Jackson is a former British bobsleigher and Royal Marines commando.
Paula Jackson is a British retired bobsledder who competed from 2007 to 2014. She originally started as a brakewoman for Jackie Gunn before taking up piloting.
Great Britain, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, from 7 to 23 February 2014. The British team was made up of athletes from the whole United Kingdom including Northern Ireland, whose athletes may have elected to hold Irish citizenship, allowing them to represent either Great Britain or Ireland. Additionally some British overseas territories competed separately from Britain in Olympic competition. A total of 56 athletes competed in 11 sports making it the biggest contingent that Great Britain had sent to a Winter Olympic Games for twenty-six years.
Joel Fearon is a British sprinter and bobsledder. He represents the Birchfield Harriers and he is recognisable in the National Trials for wearing a black vest and lycra shorts. His coach is Michael Khmel, who also coached British Sprinter Craig Pickering. His personal best for the 100m, 9.96 seconds, places him 6th on the UK all-time list.
Lamin Deen is a British bobsleigh pilot and Grenadier Guardsman. He qualified for the 2014 Winter Olympics in both the 2-man and 4-man disciplines.
Bruce Tasker is a British former bobsledder and track athlete. He qualified for the 2014 Winter Olympics in the 4-man discipline.
John Baines is a bobsledder who competes for Team GB, and a comms specialist in the Royal Air Force. His Olympic debut was at the 2014 Winter Olympics in the two-man and four-man bobsleigh events, participating as a brakeman.
Rebekah 'Bex' Wilson is a British former bobsleigh brakewoman. She competed at the trials for the 2010 Winter Olympics, and the two-woman bobsleigh at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Stuart Benson is a former bobsledder who competed for Team GB, and an avionics technician in the Royal Air Force. His competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi in the four-man bobsleigh, competing with John James Jackson, Bruce Tasker, and Joel Fearon, where they finished fifth. With the disqualification of both Russian bobsleigh teams who finished ahead of them, they officially finished third.
Andrew Matthews is a British bobsledder.
Colin William Ashburner Campbell is a British sportsman, who competed in track and field athletics and in the bobsled. He competed for Great Britain in the 1968 and 1972 Summer Olympics, before moving to bobsled and competing at the 1976 Winter Olympics, becoming one of only a handful of British athletes to compete at both the Summer and Winter games.
Mica Moore is a British women's sprinter and bobsleigher. She competed for Wales in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, and competed in the 2-women bobsleigh event at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Adele Nicoll is a British shot putter, discus thrower and bobsledder. She has won multiple Welsh Athletics Championships events, and won the shot put event at the 2022 British Athletics Championships. She came second in the 2021–22 Bobsleigh World Cup event in Sigulda, Latvia alongside Mica McNeill. Nicoll was a reserve for the 2022 Winter Olympics, and competed at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.