Page 67 - RADC 2020

• Male Army Champions Pte Olly Warner PARA & Cpl Steve Round PARA
• Male Runners Up LCpl Jase Joseph PARA & Pte James Duncan PARA
• Male Novice Champions Pte Olly Warner PARA & Cpl Steve Round PARA
• Female Novice Champions Cpl Shannon Murphy QARANC & Pte Becky Humphries RAMC
• Fastest Brakewoman Cpl Dom Burge QARANC
• Fastest Brakeman Cpl Steve Round PARA
EX RACING ICE III
UK Armed Forces Inter Services Championships
When three tribes go to war! The Royal Navy & Royal Marines, Army, and Royal Airforce went head to head in Königssee, Bavaria, at the UK Armed Forces (UKAF) Inter-Services Championships 2020. The services came armed with an arsenal of highly polished steels and bobsleighs, with sliders ranging from complete novices to Olympians.
Even Team Jamaica made the coolest of appearances, with Shan Williams of the Jamaican Bobsleigh Team sliding on behalf of the RAF. LSgt Lamin Deen Gren Gds,
Pte Olly Butterworth PARA, and Pte Luke Dawes PARA arrived fresh from the World Cup circuit to represent their home team (Army), with Lamin’s pedigree within the sport spanning 2 Winter Olympic Games. The positively competitive atmosphere in a game where anything can happen on the ice makes this a truly addictive sport.
The Deutsch Post Eiskanal, spanning 1.2km with its famous S combination
and aptly named corners named after the infamous Eagles Nest (Kehlstein), perched
on top of the mountain in overwatch nearby, proved a challenge from the start. New pilots worked hard to wrestle the most technical track of the season, with ice snipers on every turn waiting for the smallest of errors, ready to flip your viewing angle 180 degrees and test the temperature of your humour! There were a series of events across the training week, which inspired face ache laughter, from lost shoes in the track, to matrix style transitions between corners (4 runners optional) and slips and crashes. But nothing was going to stop this Red Team from taking it to the block on race day!
The Army Squad compete for a place on the Army Team by the end of week 1, going into week 2 preparing for the race ahead with a composition of 4 male teams and 3 female teams. Our successful members, some of which had impressed on their novice and Army Championships so had won a place on the team to race the other 2 services, were armoured with the pre- selected members from our elite athletes. The Army currently has 6 of its members representing GB this season, and 3 more pending further selection. It is worthy of note, Rfn Tom Harris RIFLES, completed his debut season and was quickly scouted for his talent after his exceptional performance on the squad, and will attend trials for GB this season.
The UKAF Inter-Services Bobsleigh Championships were held over 2 days, 4 Laufs, over approximately 5 km of ice, and including 40 athletes. The competition was fierce, and each service gave it their all, with some unexpected results, and a few unforeseen race day crashes, as the ice deals the cards on the day! Through blood, sweat and tears, racing is racing, and ice is ice! But after all, the Army Team fought hard and through a spate of bad luck, both
male and female teams were disqualified for crashes. The results of the Inter-Services Championships 2020:
The RNRM won Gold in the team event. The RAF swept up silver and the Army Bronze, with only 4 seconds, over 5km between the fastest and slowest sleds of each service, making it an intense race! The Army saw some personal achievements
in the individual race, seeing LSgt Lamin Deen and Pte Olly Butterworth winning Gold as individuals and Captain Sarah Smith AGC(ETS) and SSgt Zoe Beckett RADC, finishing on a podium finish with an individual silver medal.
As the beast that was Königssee breathed its last breaths, the war was over! The sportsmanship and camaraderie were unquestionable, as athletes from all three services came together to cheer each other over the line. Celebrations were had by all and prizes were awarded, with everyone feeling accomplished. The serious nature of this adrenaline sport sets it apart from any other, and creates an environment which strongly promotes respect, loyalty, team cohesion, courage, mental and physical robustness on a whole new level! Once you have felt the rush of ice sports, it will be difficult to forget it... not only being part of an incredible extreme sport and sharing your ice with world-class athletes but also being a member of the ice sports community, this is belonging.
So... got game???
For events in 2020-21 follow us
on Facebook and Instagram: @britisharmybobsleigh or see
events and applications direct at: https://www.awsa.org.uk/bobsleigh or contact the ABA Secretary: bobsleigh@awsa.org.uk
AMS Females Ice Sports
Views Inter-Services
RADC BULLETIN 2020 65