Coltman wins Europa Cup title in debut season
AN ATHLETE from Loughborough College has won the overall Europa Cup title in the debut season of her skeleton career – achieving a British first.
Amelia Coltman finished well clear at the top of the rankings and took the championship crown in Altenberg, Germany after collecting two gold, two bronze and a silver across the past two months.
Britain’s most successful Winter Olympian, Lizzy Yarnold, won overall EC silver in her first season in 2010/11 and Brogan Crowley won gold in 2017/18, two years into her international career, but the 23 year old former Loughborough College sport student is the first to finish top of the standings in her very first season of competition.
A county badminton doubles champion and national mixed doubles champion in tennis prior to joining the British Skeleton programme in the summer of 2017, Coltman only made her racing debut at the beginning of December.
Coltman eventually finished 43 points clear of overall silver medallist Endija Terauda of Latvia and 85 ahead of Russia’s Alina Taraychenkova in third.
“It’s an amazing feeling to be overall EC Champion. I never imagined I’d be saying that at the start of the season!” said Coltman, who joins an illustrious list of winners that includes reigning World Champion Tina Hermann.
“I’m really proud to have won for my country – it’s something I always dreamt about doing – and it feels just as good as I hope it would!
“It’s been a brilliant couple of months and I want it to be a platform to kick on from. Hopefully this is just the start for me but I’m not the type of person who’ll be getting carried away with this.
“Big thanks to all my coaches who have helped me get here - I definitely couldn’t have done it without them.”