Page 10 - QARANC Vol 15 No 2 2017

8 QARANC THE GAZETTE
Flying the
Flag for the
QARANC!
I have been on the Army Skeleton Bobsleigh team for 5 years now and it truly is the most exhilarating and rewarding sport. I have been fortunate enough to slide on some fantastic tracks during this time, including Igls in Austria, La Plagne in the French Alps and Winterberg in Germany. This year the Inter-Services Skeleton Championships were held in Lillehammer, Norway.
Lillehammer track was used in the 1994 Winter Olympics and most recently in the 2016 Youth Winter Olympic Games. Fortunately the track was in very good condition whilst we were in Lillehammer, as the Norwegian National Championships had just been held there. 1365m in length, with a vertical drop of 114 metres, this track is not for the faint-hearted.
Prior to the Inter-Services Championships, we had a training week where we all worked hard to master each of the 16 corners of the track, especially corner 13, which proved particularly difficult! Prior to coming out on the ice each year, athletes work hard in the gym to prepare themselves. Explosive power training is at the core of how our athletes prepare for competition.
The Inter-Services Skeleton Championships were held over 9-10 March 2017. The race is always over two days (four runs), so sliding consistently is absolutely crucial. The Inter-Services Women’s Skeleton Championships was a very close race this year. The Army women’s team
The Women’s Army Skeleton Team, Lillehammer 2017. SSgt Julia Bloomer, SSgt Nicky Moxon, Lt Rhiannon Graham and Capt Hayley Larcombe
Sgt Scott and Capt Larcombe – Flying the flag for the QARANC!
beat the Navy team by just 0.07 of a second, with the Royal Air Force finishing in third place. This year was the second year running where the women’s Army team won gold at the Inter-Services Championships and I could not have been prouder of my team. Nicky Moxon, Julia Bloomer and Rhiannon Graham all slid superbly. I was delighted to come away with the gold, holding onto the Inter-Services Women’s Champion title for the third consecutive year and thrilled that my teammate Julia Bloomer took silver (finishing only 0.5 seconds behind me). The men’s team also did us proud, winning silver for the second consecutive year!
I am not the only serving member of the QARANC to be successful on the ice. Sgt Danielle Scott has been competing at Luge for the past 7 years. She has been competing internationally for the last 3 years, as a full-time athlete on the GB Luge Team.
Capt Larcombe – Inter-Services Women’s Skeleton Champion 2017
Sgt Danielle Scott racing for GB!
2015/16 was a disappointing season for Sgt Scott, as she broke her leg during the training runs for the second race of the season in December, which resulted in surgery and meant that she had to miss the World Championships in Konigssee, Germany.
However, she has worked exceptionally hard to rehab her injury and get herself back on the ice.
Overall last season 2016/17 was a positive one for her; she made improvements on the tracks and even went to PyeongChang, South Korea to learn the Olympic track. Her starts have improved considerably this season, which have led to personal best times on the track. Sgt Scott was placed 37th in the World Championships in Austria and took gold at both the Combined Services and British Championships, helping the Army to win the team event at the Combined Services Luge Championships.
Sgt Scott aspires to compete at 2018 Winter Olympics and I have every faith she will get there. Her grit and determination are commendable. She will be training at the University of Bath with the other Ice Sports athletes during this summer, along with a summer camp in Austria & then there are 5 races before Christmas in which she aims to achieve the qualifying standard for the Olympics. She would like to thank the QARANC and Defence Medical Group, Northallerton for their continued support.
Capt Hayley Larcombe
Troop Commander
4 Armoured Medical Regiment