Teaching an escape for slider Kellyman
Milly Kellyman says juggling sliding with slideshows can help her teach her European rivals a skeleton lesson.
The Bath-based speedster studied child and youth studies at Derby University and combines her career on the ice with teaching in her spare time.
Kellyman completed her teacher training in 2016 and taught Year Two, Three and Four students in Tamworth primary schools before taking to the ice competitively two years later.
The Tamworth-raised star claimed a top ten finish in her Europe Cup debut last month and hopes striking the perfect balance can be a recipe for success.
The 27-year-old, who finished ninth in Innsbruck, said: “My teacher training has left me in a good place.
“I can do tutoring online during Covid – I’ve been doing quite a lot over the last couple of months and it’s helped knowing I’ve got that to fall back on.
“I try to do teaching as a little bit of a distraction. Sometimes training relentlessly can get on top of you a bit, so in the evenings, when I’ve got tutoring, it’s like a shut off.
“It’s a nice little release and it’s nice to have something else that’s not just sport all the time.
“Through Covid, my tutoring online has been brilliant.”
Kellyman’s sliding journey is financially supported by a partnership between Entain – owner of Ladbrokes and Coral – and sports charity Sportsaid.
The programme is part of Entain’s Pitching In initiative and helps Kellyman access vital funds for training, travel, equipment and mentoring.
And she’s taking full advantage during the current lockdown, recently flying out to Igls and Innsbruck to compete in her maiden Europe Cup race.
Kellyman claimed an impressive ninth-placed finish on the Austrian ice, crossing the line in 1:49.35 and 1.56s behind race winner Alina Tararychenkova.
She revelled in her impressive first outing but knows if she’s to scale the 2026 Winter Olympic heights, the hard work is only just beginning.
“I’m really pleased to have come ninth – but I’ve still got lots still to work on,” she added.
“It’s my first competition and it’s all about getting that race experience. In the coming years, the aims are to get medals in the Europe Cup, World Cup and move up the rankings.
“The beauty of our sport is that we only have such a small amount of time to pick it up and be able to compete with it.
“Time is precious, and you’ve got to make the most of it – as a group, we’ve really adapted to that.”
Kellyman is learning from the pantheon of GB Skeleton greats at the University of Bath, with Winter Olympic gold medallists Lizzy Yarnold and Amy Williams among the young squad’s mentors.
Sliding remains one of the country’s less high-profile sports but always captures the nation when the Games roll around every four years.
Kellyman says the thrill is intoxicating and hopes to showcase her speed in Milano Cortina in five years’ time.
“It doesn’t always go perfect every time, but the time when it does go perfect is what you aim for,” she said.
“Even when you’ve had a bad run, there are marginal changes you can make to make that perfect run again. It’s like an itch that you can’t scratch – you’ve got to keep going at it to get better.
“That side of things is what really drives the British team – we don’t get that much ice time compared to the rest of the world.
“It’s the drive of knowing we’ve got to make the most of this time. The thrill and the adrenaline is crazy – when you’ve got that good run, it’s just brilliant.”
■ Entain, owner of Ladbrokes and Coral, is proud to be championing the next generation of British sporting heroes by providing talented young athletes with financial support and personal development opportunities in partnership with Sportsaid.
As part of this three-year partnership, Entain are supporting a diverse group 50 of UK athletes per year from a variety of spots and para-sports.
Visit entaingroup.com to find out more.