Homepage

We use cookies to track and analyse visitors to our website

These cookies help make the website usable by enabling basic functions like page navigation. They are necessary for our website to function and cannot be switched off.
These cookies gather information to understand how visitors interact with the website, such as how many people are using our website of which pages are popular to help us improve user experience. Switching off these cookies will mean that we cannot gather information to improve the user experience.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by a third party provider whose services we have added to our website. Switching off these cookies mean that areas of our website cannot work properly.

Cookies are small text files that can be used by websites to make a user's experience more efficient.

The law states that we can store cookies on your device if they are strictly necessary for the operation of this site.

For all other types of cookies we need your permission.

This site uses different types of cookies. Some cookies are placed by third party services that appear on our pages.

You can at any time change or withdraw your consent from the Cookie Declaration on our website.

Learn more about who we are, how you can contact us and how we process personal data in our Privacy Policy.

Skip navigation
  • About us
    • Our Directors team
    • Our Board and panels
    • Strategic plan 2021-31
    • Annual reports
    • Our funders
    • Who we work with
    • Tenders
    • Contact us
  • Our work
    • Investing in sport
    • Investing in events
    • Powering positive change and social impact
    • International relations
    • Learning and development
    • Protecting and Transforming Olympic and Paralympic sport
    • Leadership and governance
    • Coaching
  • Events
  • News
  • Sports
    Olympic sports
    • Archery
    • Aquatics
    • Artistic Swimming
    • Athletics
    • Badminton
    • Baseball
    • Basketball
    • Bobsleigh
    • Boxing (Amateur)
    • View all
    Paralympic sports
    • Boccia
    • Goalball
    • Para-Archery
    • Para-Athletics
    • Para-Badminton
    • Para-Canoe
    • Para-Climbing
    • Para-Cycling
    • Para-Equestrian Dressage
    • View all
  • Resources
    • A Code for Sports Governance
    • Organisational Health
    • Para performance strategic framework
    • Board minutes
    • Complaints and whistleblowing
    • Eligibility
    • Fraud, corruption and bribery
    • Transparency and open data
    • HR policy templates
    • Pregnancy guidance
    • Reports and research
    • The Whyte Review
  • Jobs in sport
    • Working at UK Sport
    • Explore career pathways
    • Find jobs in sport
    • Advertise sport jobs
  • About us
    • Our Directors team
    • Our Board and panels
    • Strategic plan 2021-31
    • Annual reports
    • Our funders
    • Who we work with
    • Tenders
    • Contact us
  • Our work
    • Investing in sport
    • Investing in events
    • Powering positive change and social impact
    • International relations
    • Learning and development
    • Protecting and Transforming Olympic and Paralympic sport
    • Leadership and governance
    • Coaching
  • Events
  • News
  • Sports
    Olympic sports
    • Archery
    • Aquatics
    • Artistic Swimming
    • Athletics
    • Badminton
    • Baseball
    • Basketball
    • Bobsleigh
    • Boxing (Amateur)
    • View all
    Paralympic sports
    • Boccia
    • Goalball
    • Para-Archery
    • Para-Athletics
    • Para-Badminton
    • Para-Canoe
    • Para-Climbing
    • Para-Cycling
    • Para-Equestrian Dressage
    • View all
  • Resources
    • A Code for Sports Governance
    • Organisational Health
    • Para performance strategic framework
    • Board minutes
    • Complaints and whistleblowing
    • Eligibility
    • Fraud, corruption and bribery
    • Transparency and open data
    • HR policy templates
    • Pregnancy guidance
    • Reports and research
    • The Whyte Review
  • Jobs in sport
    • Working at UK Sport
    • Explore career pathways
    • Find jobs in sport
    • Advertise sport jobs
Popular content on our site
Prepare to “Find Your Greatness” as search for UK's future athletes gets underway The National Lottery operator Allwyn launches ChangeMakers fund for athletes as they make a difference back home Breadth of success targeted as British Olympic and Paralympic performance aspirations confirmed for Paris Investing in sport Strategic plan 2021-31
News

Sochi 2014 - Skeleton Profile

Published 7 February 2014

  • UK Sport Investment 2010-14 (Sochi) - £3,447,600
  • UK Sport Investment 2006-10 (Vancouver) - £2,100,000
  • Number of Podium Funded Athletes - 3: Shelley Rudman*, Lizzy Yarnold*, Dominic Parsons*
  • Number of Podium Potential Funded Athletes - 12: Kristan Bromley*, Donna Creighton, Laura Deas, James Howard, Kenny Howard, Rose McGrandle, Jordan McIntosh, Jeremy Rice, Ed Smith, David Swift, Jack Thomas, Thomas Walker
  • Sochi Performance Target - 1 Medal

*Selected for Sochi

The Sochi Journey

Having medalled at each of the past three Olympic Winter Games, progressing from Alex Coomber’s bronze at Salt Lake City, to Shelley Rudman’s silver in Turin, culminating in the fantastic gold medal won by Amy Williams in Vancouver, British Skeleton has been a sport in ascendance for a decade.

As such, skeleton receives the most funding of all the winter sports, and have benefitted from £3.4 million of National Lottery and Exchequer investment from UK Sport to support their Sochi journey.

With their proven track record of success and the backing of UK Sport, British Skeleton was keen to increase its talent pool for the future. Talent ID campaigns run by UK Sport and the English Institute of Sport in 2008 (Girls4Gold) and 2011 (Power2Podium) discovered a number of promising young athletes, meaning that in 2012-13, 12 new athletes joined the World Class Programme.

Among these athletes was Lizzy Yarnold, a county level heptathlete who tried out for Girls4Gold having never even heard of skeleton. Just four years later, in 2012, Yarnold became Junior World Champion and a Senior World Bronze Medallist. Yarnold is now a Podium funded athlete and was the 2013-14 overall World Cup champion.

Skeleton power couple Shelley Rudman and Kristan Bromley have been on the World Class Performance Programme for a combined 20 years, having both won World Championship and World Cup titles during their incredibly successful time in the sport.

The ‘team behind the team’ is also of vital importance and Ice Coach Chris Type is currently on UK Sport’s Elite Coach Apprenticeship Programme (ECAP), which aims to create a bespoke development pathway towards coaching excellence, based on the needs of each coach and their sport.

A former skeleton athlete, Chris also went on to be the first ever pilot for Athlete to Coach – which led to a new UK Sport initiative looking for athletes to transfer in to coaching at the end of their competitive career.

Fellow Ice Coach Mark Wood, who helped Lizzy Yarnold and other talent transfer athletes get integrated in to Skeleton’s World Class Programme, is a graduate of UK Sport’s Elite Coach programme.

Share
  • X
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

News

Participants of the UK Sport Athlete To Coach programme taking part in a fireside conversation
UK Sport launches new programmes to support coaching across the high-performance community
21 May 2025
Headshot of Professor Nick Webborn CBE
Professor Nick Webborn CBE appointed new Chair of UK Sport
19 May 2025
Decoration image with the logos of UK Sport and Weirdo
Transforming fan experience: UK Sport introduces new engagement strategies for Olympic and Paralympic sports
15 May 2025
Looking to work in sport?
Find or advertise sports jobs in the UK
Search now
Our funders
  • Funded by UK Government
  • TNL partners
Who we work with
  • British Olympic Association
  • Paralympics GB
  • Logo of the UK Sports Institute
  • Sport England
  • Sport Northern Ireland
  • Sport Wales
  • Sport Scotland
  • Logo of the British Elite Athletes Association
  • Logo for UK Coaching
  • Logo of Sport Resolutions
Sitelogo
Sitemap
  • Homepage
  • About us
  • Our work
  • Events
  • News
  • Sports
  • Resources
  • Jobs in sport
  • Website terms and privacy policy
  • Editorial policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Accessibility
  • Freedom of Information
  • Welsh language scheme
  • FAQs
Contact
UK Sport
6th Floor
10 South Colonnade
London
E14 4PU
E: info@uksport.gov.uk
T: +44 (0) 20 7211 5100
Follow us
Twitter Youtube Instagram LinkedIn

© Copyright UK Sport 2025