Battle-hardened bobsledder Mica McNeill says she’s clicking into gear at the perfect time as she cranks up preparation for a shot at sliding glory.
McNeill, from Consett, will form part of an eight-strong British bobsleigh team at next week’s Winter Olympic Games where she’ll compete in the two-woman event with brakewoman Montell Douglas.
The north-east ace joined forces with Adelle Nicol – travelling reserve for Beijing – to claim a sensational World Cup silver in Sigulda and has shown serious signs of promise on the globetrotting bobsleigh circuit.
McNeill registered Team GB’s best ever result in women’s bobsleigh with an eighth-place finish at PyeongChang 2018 and hopes finding her form when it matters can fire her onto the podium in the Chinese capital.
The 28-year-old, who trains at the University of Bath, said: “It was an absolutely incredible moment for us to have achieve our best World Cup result in an Olympic year.
“The last two years have been full of ups and downs with everything like injury and the pandemic – but this has just shown that we need to keep going and it does pay off.
“This year we knew we didn’t want to peak in November or December – sometimes, you’re on fire on that side of Christmas but then you drop off or are exhausted.
“We knew this season we didn’t want that to happen. It has pushed qualification to last minute dot com - but were confident now that we’re going into the Games in a great state, both physically and mentally.
“I’m very confident and excited to get out there and show what we can do.”
The Games kick off with the Opening Ceremony on Friday but McNeill will have to wait until February 18 to get her Beijing campaign underway.
Her and Douglas – who represented Team GB as a sprinter at the Summer Games in the same city in 2008 – compete on the evening of Friday 18 February, primetime viewing for UK audience to tune in for the sliding thrills and spills.
McNeill’s stunning Sigulda silver marked Britain’s maiden women’s World Cup medal for 13 years and she followed it up with another impressive seventh-place finish at the European Championships in St. Moritz.
Preparations for these Games have been a world away from South Korea four years ago but McNeill, who carried the Olympic torch ahead of London 2012, insists her Beijing fires are burning brighter than ever.
“It’s been absolutely completely different preparation for us and a different setup,” added McNeill, whose Olympic exploits will be broadcast live on discovery+, Eurosport and Eurosport app.
"In PyeongChang, everyone was free, no one was wearing masks and it seems a lifetime ago. This Olympics in Beijing are completely different – we’re not in normal holding camps or training gyms, we’re staying in separate Airbnbs, we’re self-catering and trying to limit contact with people or members of the public.
“We’re trying to stay safe and be able to get out there to Beijing, be in the bubble and stand on the start block safely.
“The races have been completely different – that’s something everyone in the world has had to deal with in every walk of life, and something we need to get on with and trust that the system will keep us safe.
“It’s definitely going to be different to the Olympic Games before with no family and friends out there, but it’s still going to be a great atmosphere.”
Watch All the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 live on discovery+ , Eurosport and Eurosport app
