Montell Douglas - first British female summer and winter Olympian
The former sprinter returns to Beijing for the first time since the Summer Games in 2008 as one half of Team GB's two-woman bobsleigh team at the Olympic Winter Games.
Bobsleigh
Montell Douglas, 36, is creating history at Beijing 2022.
The Team GB athlete is returning to the city in which she ran the 100m on the athletics track at the Beijing 2008 Games. She's back in China to compete in the two-woman Bobsleigh.
This will make Douglas the first British woman to compete in both an Olympic Summer and Winter Games.
As quoted in Athletics Weekly, she feels “completely overwhelmed, honoured and blessed” to be taking on this title.
“It’s been a journey for me because we’ve had a number of men but no women do it,” the Briton continues. “It’s been great to represent women and that was something that I really wanted to achieve. So I’m blown away.”
Where it all started for Montell Douglas
Douglas' sprinting career saw her compete at two World Championships, the Commonwealth Games, as well as the European Indoor and Outdoor Championships.
She was in the England 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medal winning sprint relay team and the Great Britain team that came fourth and fifth in the World Championship relays in 2007 and 2009.
Though, one of her greatest achievements came at Beijing 2008, where she set a British women's 100m record of 11.05 - running a wind-assisted 10.95 the same day.
That record had previously been held by Kathy Cook for 27 years.
The qualities behind winter sport success
“I was essentially recruited by one of the coaches who was from an athletics background,” she told Athletics weekly of her switch. “And he said to me that they were looking for bigger, faster, stronger girls – because the start in bobsleigh is so important.”
While she lined up against athletes of varying physical stature on the track, Douglas realises it takes specific attributes to be able to compete on the sled.
"I am tall but I have very long limbs. So it’s not just that I’m 5ft 10in, I have almost got 6ft 2in limbs. In some ways that’s a challenge to be behind the bob, which, for me, is very low but you have to work around things and find a way to get the job done.
“I’ve gained 10 kilos compared to my first Olympic Games. I’m a lot heavier because you need the mass to move the bobsleigh and of course, the weight is going to slow me down so I had to balance those components to ensure that my performance was still at the high level that it needed to be.”
A seamless switch to the bobsleigh
Douglas joined British Bobsleigh in the summer of 2016.
After first competing in January 2017, Douglas' bobsleigh career has included a top 10 finish in her World Cup debut, finishing seventh in St Moritz and winning GB's first Europa Cup gold in seven years alongside Mica McNeill.
The latter accolade came within a fortnight of her international debut.
Douglas also went on to be a reserve at PyeongChang 2018, and now has the opportunity to compete for herself at Beijing 2022.
When to watch Montell Douglas competing at Beijing 2022?
The two-woman Official Training Heats start on Tuesday 15 February at 14:10 local time in China (06:10 GMT) and continue until Thursday 17 February.
Two-woman Heats 1 (20:00) and 2 (21:30) take place on Friday 18 February, the day before Heat 3 (20:00) and Heat 4 (21:30) - where the medals will be decided.
What is bobsleigh?
Having featured at every Olympic Winter Games bar Squaw Valley 1960, bobsleigh is an iconic part of the Games.
It is one of three sliding sports at Beijing 2022, alongside the skeleton and luge.
There are 12 medals available in the bobsleigh competition at the Games, with two events each for men and women, including the brand new women's monobob event.