Young bobsleigh duo Charlotte Longden and Will Scammell hit top 12 for Team GB at Lausanne 2020 Youth Olympic Games
Team Bath athletes Charlotte Longden and Will Scammell both recorded 12th-placed finishes when they represented Team GB in bobsleigh at the Lausanne 2020 Youth Olympic Games.
Longden went first in the women’s monobob competition on Sunday and got progressively quicker over her two runs, reaching speeds of 125.4km/h to finish on a combined time of 2:30.20 – +3.36 seconds off the eventual winner Georgeta Popescu of Romania.
“I was happy with how my runs went,” said Longden, who has only been training in bobsleigh at the University of Bath for a year. “I could notice improvements on my second run from my first run so that’s all I can really ask for.
“For me this is just the start, I loved it, I loved this experience and just want to do more.”
Ex hepathlete, swimmer, netballer & hockey player Charlotte Longden makes her Winter Youth Olympic debut as a bobsledder today! 🛷🙌
Ahead of the event we filmed with her at the iconic St. Moritz Olympic track for a @BBCSport feature…@The_BBSA @TeamGB @TeamBath pic.twitter.com/vQZnBGlvsQ
— ✌️🏊🏻♂️ 𝗡𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗛𝗼𝗽𝗲 🇬🇧✌️ (@NickHopeTV) January 19, 2020
The following day saw fellow 17-year-old Scammell also place 12th overall in a combined time of 2:28.26. German Alexander Czudaj and Robert Andrei Nica from Romania shared the gold in a time of 2:24.80.
“I’ve done such a good run and I feel so proud of how I’ve done,” he said. “To finish close to the top 10 in the world is unbelievable. I think I’ve proved that even though I can’t train as much [as some of the other competitors] I’m up there with the best.”
Hurdler turned British bobsledder Will Scammell makes his Winter Youth Olympic debut in🇨🇭today.
The 17-year-old only took up the sport after a trial late last year. Here’s what he had to say to me ahead of the big race in St. Moritz..@The_BBSA @IBSFsliding @TeamGB pic.twitter.com/qTcXd7kSz5
— ✌️🏊🏻♂️ 𝗡𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗛𝗼𝗽𝗲 🇬🇧✌️ (@NickHopeTV) January 20, 2020
Both were first introduced to the sport as track and field athletes with Team Bath Athletics Club who, like the British Bobsleigh & Skeleton Association, are based at the University’s Sports Training Village.
Click here to find out more about the bobsleigh programme at the University of Bath.
