People power propels Mcneill and Moore to start line with fundraising triumph
Powered by the people, Britain’s women’s bobsleigh double act intend to replay the public’s faith in them with performances on the ice.
Unlike their male counterparts, Mica Mcneill and Mica Moore have had to rely wholly on the generosity of others in order to make it to the start line in Pyeongchang.
That came after an embarrassing administrative error by British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association who announced last September that overspending had left no money for the women to try to seal a place at the current Winter Games.
Cue drastic action and a fundraising campaign which remarkably resulted in them reaching their target of £30,000 inside a week, while it has grown by a further £11,000 since.
The two Micas, for their part, kept up their end of the bargain by sealing qualification for the Games.
Signs were promising ahead of their opening two competition runs this morning as the duo finished inside the top five on four of their training runs at the Olympic Sliding Centre.
“We’ve had ‘powered by the people’ on our sled all season. For all eight races, they have been pushing us. It’s awesome,” said 24-year-old Mcneill, who won the world junior title with Moore last January.
“People see it and ask what it means and we can say ‘the people of Great Britain have powered us to get here’.
“Not just with donations. Whether it’s been messages of support or sharing our story, the people of Great Britain have really shown that they’ve got
MICA MCNEILL “Whether it’s been messages of support or sharing our story, the people of Great Britain have really shown that they’ve got behind British athletes and they love their sport and have got us to where we are”
behind British athletes and they love their sport and they have got us to where we are.”
Meanwhile signs are promising ahead of the weekend’s four-man competition after pilot Brad Hall, pictured, and Joel Fearon gained valuable time on the ice.
The duo placed 12th in the two-man competition yesterday – their best international result together – and sprint star Fearon was already looking ahead with confidence.
“It’s all building really well for the four-man,” said the 29-year-old, who won World Cup four-man bronze this season. “We’re going to add a couple of extra horses to the sled and see what happens. “We know we have got kit that can work, we know Brad likes it so it should be good. Today was a season’s best, personal best for that, so if we can do that in the four-man that would be great.” l Watch Mica Mcneill compete in heats 3 and 4 of the women’s bobsleigh tomorrow at 11.40am, live on Eurosport 2. Don’t miss a moment of the Olympic Winter Games at eurosport.co.uk and the Eurosport app.