Lizzy Yarnold won a sensational Gold medal in the Women’s Skeleton at Sochi 2014 – just 5 years after trying the sport for the first time as part of the Girls4Gold talent identification scheme.
Yarnold was a regional level heptathlete studying at the University of Gloucestershire when she responded to a targeted advert promoting a joint initiative between UK Sport, The English Institute of Sport and British Skeleton.
Launched from the Manchester Velodrome in 2008 and fronted by Skeleton silver medallist from Turin, Shelley Rudman and Olympic champion Victoria Pendleton, Girls4Gold was the single most extensive female sporting talent recruitment drive ever undertaken in Great Britain.
Lizzy Yarnold was one of 900 athletes to attend the first testing phase and was considered for a range of sports before becoming just one of 4 athletes to join British Skeleton’s National Lottery Funded World Class Programme.
Liz Nicholl, Chief Executive of UK Sport, said: “It was very special to see Lizzy race to a Gold medal in Sochi so soon after she first took up the sport through our Girls4Gold talent identification campaign.
“Lizzy’s rapid development to a world class level has required fearless commitment and precision planning and support to develop and perform at such speed.
“Identifying new talent to fast-track in to Olympic and Paralympic disciplines is just one of the range of ways UK Sport provides strategic support to enable sports and their athletes to achieve medal winning performances.
“Our talent identification campaigns have unearthed three Olympic medallists now and we are committed to continuing to run these campaigns to get talented sportswomen and men in to the right sports wherever there is the opportunity and need.”
Simon Timson, UK Sport’s Director of Performance, said: “Lizzy’s meteoric rise has been masterminded by British Skeleton’s world class staff including Head Coach, Andi Schmid, Assistant Coach Mark Wood, and start coach Danny Holdcroft, who continue to consistently enable inspirational performances from their athletes at the Olympic Games.
“They are supported by UK Sport’s National Lottery funded World Class Performance Programme and the second to none Games time environment provided by the British Olympic Association, which has given all our athletes in Sochi the best possible opportunity to reach their ultimate potential.”
UK Sport, The English Institute of Sport and British Skeleton are currently running a new talent identification scheme for men and women with Lizzy Yarnold as an ambassador called Power2Podium. You can register your interest at: www.uksport.gov.uk/talent
Yarnold cited a “passion for all sport” in her original application and soon caught the eye of the assembled sports scientist who identified her as an athlete who could excel in Skeleton.
She went through three testing phases before joining the “Skeleton Futures” programme and sampled her first run at Lillehammer, Norway in March 2009. Since then Lizzy has made incredible progress: becoming Junior World Champion in 2012 and finishing the current 2013/2014 season as the World Cup Champion.
Natalie Dunman, Head of Performance Pathways at UK Sport, who manages the talent identification programme, said: “I can still recall when Lizzy arrived at the first testing phase and it quickly became apparent to the team she had the potential to succeed in elite sport. Girls4Gold was a multi-sport talent campaign but Skeleton was the best fit for Lizzy’s skill set and personality.
“We were always confident our carefully planned and implemented talent identification programme could achieve success and it has taken a very special young woman with a huge amount of determination and commitment to realise the potential of this approach in such an accelerated timescale.
“Working closely with the British Skeleton programme we have learnt a lot from Lizzy's journey to success and look forward to applying this in current and future development programmes both within Skeleton and across other sports.”
UK Sport and the EIS have collaborated on more than 10 talent identification programmes since 2005 which have discovered London2012 Olympic medallists Helen Glover and Lutalo Muhammad and more than63 athletes who have made international appearances, winning 134 medals.
In addition to its talent development role, the EIS has provided a range of sport science, medical and technology support to help improve the health, fitness, training, preparation – and ultimately the performance – of the Skeleton athletes throughout the last four years.