Adele Nicoll

Adele Nicoll
Personal information
CitizenshipBritish
Born (1996-09-28) 28 September 1996 (age 28)
Years activec. 2011– (athletics)
2020– (bobsleigh)
Height5 ft 8.5 in (174 cm)[1]
Weight80 kg (176 lb)[1]
Sport
Country
  • Great Britain
  • Wales
Sport
ClubBirchfield Harriers
Achievements and titles
National finals2014–2024 inclusive (athletics)
Commonwealth finals2022
Medal record
Representing  Great Britain
Bobsleigh World Cup
Silver medal – second place 2022 Sigulda 2-woman
British Athletics Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Manchester Shot put
Gold medal – first place 2022 Manchester Shot put
Gold medal – first place 2023 Manchester Shot put

Adele Nicoll (born 28 September 1996) is a British shot putter, discus thrower and bobsledder. She has won multiple Welsh Athletics Championships events, and won the shot put event at the 2022 and 2023 British Athletics Championships. She came second in the 2021–22 Bobsleigh World Cup event in Sigulda, Latvia alongside Mica McNeill. Nicoll was a reserve for the 2022 Winter Olympics, and competed at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Athletics career

Nicoll started competing in athletics for the Birchfield Harriers at the age of 14.[2] She was not selected in the Welsh squads for the 2014 or 2018 Commonwealth Games; she only reached the B standard for the 2018 Games.[3]

Nicoll came third in the under-23s shot put event at the 2017 European Throwing Cup.[4] As of 2021, she had won the previous eight shot put events at the Welsh Athletics Championship;[5] her distance at the 2021 Welsh Athletics Championships was above the qualifying threshold for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.[3] At the 2021 British Athletics Championships, Nicoll came third in the shot put event.[6]

Nicoll came third in the shot put event at the 2022 British Indoor Athletics Championships, throwing a personal best distance of 17.02 metres.[7] At the 2022 Welsh Athletics Championships, Nicoll won both the shot put and discus events.[8] In June 2022, she was selected in the Welsh team for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in the shot put event.[2] Later that month, she won the shot put event at the 2022 British Athletics Championships; she had previously finished in third place in seven editions of the championships.[9] At the Commonwealth Games, Nicoll finished 8th in the shot put event with a distance of 17.30 metres.[10] Nicoll won the shot put event at the 2023 British Athletics Championships.[11]

Bobsleigh career

In 2020, Nicoll took up bobsleigh after being approached on Instagram by Mica McNeill, who had seen videos on social media of Nicoll exercising.[5][12] She spent most of the 2020–21 season in training,[12] and lost almost 20 kilograms (3.1 st; 44 lb) of body weight in order to compete.[5]

At the 2021–22 Bobsleigh World Cup, Nicoll competed in some events with McNeill, who also competed in events alongside Mica Moore and Montell Douglas. Nicoll, Moore and Douglas were all attempting to earn a place with McNeill for the 2-woman event at the 2022 Winter Olympics.[5] In January 2022, Nicoll and McNeill finished second in the World Cup event in Sigulda, Latvia.[13][14] It was the first time that a British woman had won a Bobsleigh World Cup medal for 13 years, and it was Nicoll's second World Cup event.[13] That month, McNeill and Douglas were confirmed as Britain's selections for the Olympics;[15] Nicoll travelled to the Games as a reserve.[14] Two weeks after the Olympics, she attended a bobsleigh driving school in Lake Placid, New York, US.[2] In the 2022–23 season, Nicoll started working as a pilot, in the monobob event.[16]

At the 2023–24 IBSF Bobsleigh European Cup in St. Moritz, Nicoll and Kya Placide won the 2-women bobsleigh event, and Nicoll came second in the monobob event.[17]

Personal life

Nicoll is from Welshpool, Wales.[12] She attended Welshpool High School,[18] and later studied clinical neuroscience at Cardiff Metropolitan University, graduating in 2020.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Adelé Nicoll". British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "Welshpool's Adele Nicoll overcomes doubters to reach Birmingham 2022". Shropshire Star. 9 June 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Adele Nicoll . . . Seven Years Of Waiting And Now She Has Commonwealth Games And Winter Olympics In Her Diary". Dai Sport. 15 August 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  4. ^ "2017 European Cup Winter Throwing Results – U23 Women" (PDF). RFEA. 12 March 2017. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 March 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  5. ^ a b c d "Meet the two Welsh athletes competing for the same Olympic bobsleigh spot". BBC Sport. 24 November 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  6. ^ "Yarmouth athlete seals place at Tokyo Olympics". Eastern Daily Press. 27 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  7. ^ "Bronze for Adele Nicoll on return". Shropshire Star. 2 March 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  8. ^ "Adele Nicoll is a double Welsh champion". Shropshire Star. 14 June 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  9. ^ "Charlotte Payne goes third on UK all-time hammer list". Athletics Weekly. 26 June 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  10. ^ "Commonwealth Games: Athletics - Women's Shot Put results". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  11. ^ "Great Britain's Adele Nicoll set to become a Winter and Summer Olympian". Inside the Games. 29 March 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  12. ^ a b c "Adele Nicoll is eyeing the Winter Olympics and Commonwealth Games in 2022". The National. 21 November 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  13. ^ a b "MICA MCNEILL AND ADELE NICOLL SOAR TO STUNNING WORLD CUP SILVER IN SIGULDA". Eurosport. 2 January 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  14. ^ a b "Winter Olympics: Powys bobsleigh star Adele Nicoll in Team GB". Powys County Times. 20 January 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  15. ^ "Winter Olympics: Montell Douglas becomes GB's first female summer and Winter Olympian with bobsleigh selection". BBC Sport. 20 January 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  16. ^ "Adele launches season in Lillehammer today". My Welshpool. 16 November 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  17. ^ "Europa Cup: Adele Nicoll and Kya Placide win bobsleigh gold". BBC Sport. 19 January 2024. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  18. ^ "Nicoll and Jones impress as Welshpool stars target Commonwealth Games glory". Powys County Times. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022.