Latest news with #BBCRadioWiltshire
The Independent
28-04-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Winter Olympic medallist Laura Deas retires from skeleton
Winter Olympics bronze medallist Laura Deas has announced her retirement from skeleton seven years after her podium finish at Pyeonchang 2018. The Wrexham-born slider finished third in South Korea as Great Britain secured two medals, with Deas sharing the podium with Olympic champion Lizzy Yarnold. The 36-year-old finished 19th at the next Games in Beijing before missing the 2023-24 season to give birth to a daughter. But having attempted a return to World Cup racing, Deas has now called time on her career, with her final race a silver-medal winning slide at a World Cup event in Latvia in 2023. "Immediately after the Beijing Olympics, I wanted to at least do one more season because I didn't want to leave the sport on that note because they (the Beijing Games) hadn't gone so well," Deas told BBC Radio Wiltshire. "So I definitely knew that I had at least one more season in me from that point onwards. "But in my head, it was quite an open-ended situation. I didn't really have a hard end point in mind, and I think partly that was because I didn't really want to approach any race knowing for sure that it was going to be the last time I ever stepped on ice. Because the thing about our sport, really, is that there's no way to just do it recreationally. 'I managed to win a medal [at her last race], which was a lovely sign off. So I was thinking, 'well, if this is the last time I set foot on ice, what a nice way to do it'.' Deas had combined with Matt Weston to secure team silver at the World Championships in St Moritz earlier in 2023. Her Olympic bronze medal continued Team GB's outstanding record in the skeleton since the women's event was added to the Winter Games in 2002. Alex Coomber and Shelley Rudman secured bronze and silver respectively in 2002 and 2006, before Amy Williams kicked off a run of three consecutive Olympic champions from Great Britain in 2010 with Yarnold securing back-to-back successes. Weston, meanwhile, is tracking well ahead of the men's event at Milan-Cortina Olympics next year, securing back-to-back overall World Cup wins.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Olympic skeleton bronze medallist Deas retires
Former Winter Olympics skeleton bronze medallist Laura Deas has announced her retirement from the sport. The 36-year-old Wrexham-born competitor's career highlight came at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games in South Korea when she finished third, sharing the podium with gold medallist and good friend Lizzy Yarnold. That was the first time a British duo had mounted the same podium at a Winter Games. Deas finished 19th at her next Olympics, the 2022 Beijing Games and missed the 2023-24 season after becoming pregnant. Deas had returned to training following the birth of her daughter, but having not raced since the end of the 2022-23 campaign, has now decided to quit competing. Her final race was a World Cup finale in February 2023 where she took a silver medal which she says was "a lovely sign off". "Immediately after Beijing the Olympics, I wanted to at least do one more season because I didn't want to leave the sport on that note because they (the Beijing Games) hadn't gone so well," Deas told BBC Radio Wiltshire. "So I definitely knew that I had at least one more season in me from that point onwards. "But in my head, it was quite an open-ended situation. I didn't really have a hard end point in mind, and I think partly that was because I didn't really want to approach any race knowing for sure that it was going to be the last time I ever stepped on ice. "Because that's the thing about our sport, really, is that there's no way to just do it recreationally." She finished second in her final race, a World Cup event at Sigulda, Latvia and has fond memories of that day. "I managed to win a medal, which was a lovely sign off," said Deas. "So I was thinking, 'well, if this is the last ever time I set foot on ice, what a nice way to do it. "I mean, that's the thing, isn't it? For a lot of athletes, it's other things that contribute to that decision to move on and do other things. Sometimes it's injury, sometimes it's just performance. "It was a really nice race as well, because a lot of my family were able to be there as well, and friends, and it was a lovely atmosphere. "And it was the end of a season that had actually been very healing for everyone after the Olympic disappointment, to be able to go back onto the World Cup tour and have some success and kind of really show everyone what we could do again." You can listen to the full interview with Laura Deas on BBC Radio Wiltshire's Sport at Six on Monday, 28 April, 18:00 BST and later on demand.
BBC News
28-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Olympic skeleton bronze medallist Deas retires
Former Winter Olympics skeleton bronze medallist Laura Deas has announced her retirement from the 36-year-old Wrexham-born competitor's career highlight came at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games in South Korea when she finished third, sharing the podium with gold medallist and good friend Lizzy was the first time a British duo had mounted the same podium at a Winter finished 19th at her next Olympics, the 2022 Beijing Games and missed the 2023-24 season after becoming had returned to training following the birth of her daughter, but having not raced since the end of the 2022-23 campaign, has now decided to quit final race was a World Cup finale in February 2023 where she took a silver medal which she says was "a lovely sign off". "Immediately after Beijing the Olympics, I wanted to at least do one more season because I didn't want to leave the sport on that note because they (the Beijing Games) hadn't gone so well," Deas told BBC Radio Wiltshire."So I definitely knew that I had at least one more season in me from that point onwards."But in my head, it was quite an open-ended situation. I didn't really have a hard end point in mind, and I think partly that was because I didn't really want to approach any race knowing for sure that it was going to be the last time I ever stepped on ice. "Because that's the thing about our sport, really, is that there's no way to just do it recreationally."She finished second in her final race, a World Cup event at Sigulda, Latvia and has fond memories of that day."I managed to win a medal, which was a lovely sign off," said Deas."So I was thinking, 'well, if this is the last ever time I set foot on ice, what a nice way to do it. "I mean, that's the thing, isn't it? For a lot of athletes, it's other things that contribute to that decision to move on and do other things. Sometimes it's injury, sometimes it's just performance."It was a really nice race as well, because a lot of my family were able to be there as well, and friends, and it was a lovely atmosphere."And it was the end of a season that had actually been very healing for everyone after the Olympic disappointment, to be able to go back onto the World Cup tour and have some success and kind of really show everyone what we could do again."You can listen to the full interview with Laura Deas on BBC Radio Wiltshire's Sport at Six on Monday, 28 April, 18:00 BST and later on demand.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Canoeist wins 125-mile race for third year in row
A man who canoed 125 miles (201km) without stopping says he is "ecstatic" to have won the annual event for a third year in a row. Tom Sharpe and his canoe partner Anoushka Freeman finished the Devizes to Westminster race in 17 hours and 17 minutes. They set off from the Wiltshire town on Saturday at about 18:00 BST and finished in London at about 11:00 BST on Sunday, overcoming "very difficult conditions". "[The] strong winds didn't stop the whole race. It was in your face the whole time. It's quite energy-zapping and obviously it slows you down," Mr Sharpe told BBC Radio Wiltshire. This year's annual Devizes to Westminster Canoe Race saw more than 300 people take part and ended on Monday. More news stories for Wiltshire Listen to the latest news for Wiltshire The event first took place in 1948, with paddlers making their way to London over the Easter weekend. Competitors come from all over the world, including Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany and the United States. Reacting to their win, Mr Sharpe said: "[I'm] a little tired, I've got a slight croaky voice. But pretty ecstatic to win again." The event organiser Paul Fielden told BBC Radio Wiltshire lower water, particularly in the River Thames, made it so hard for paddlers that 50% withdrew as they failed to reach Teddington Lock on time. Mr Sharpe, who is based in Richmond-upon-Thames, said the second half of the race from Reading to Westminster was "harder than usual" as there was "no water to push us down". To train, he says he paddles 62 miles (100km) and runs 31 miles (50km) every week between January and April. Mr Fielden said Mr Sharpe and Ms Freeman - whose win was her second in a row - beat their closest rivals by four minutes in a "fantastic race". "We had a 50% failure rate this year, lots of paddlers pulled out because of the conditions best described as brutal," he said. "It's a tough race in the best of years, this year was exceptionally tough." The event is divided into different races: the senior doubles (non-stop), the stage races which are paddled over four days, and the junior doubles which involves eight hours paddling and an overnight camp. Follow BBC Wiltshire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. Junior teams set off on three-day canoe race Non-stop canoe race celebrates 75th anniversary Devizes to Westminster Canoe Race
BBC News
22-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Canoeist wins 125-mile non-stop canoe race for third time
A man who canoed 125 miles (201km) without stopping says he is "ecstatic" to have won the annual event for a third year in a Sharpe and his canoe partner Anoushka Freeman finished the Devizes to Westminster race in 17 hours and 17 set off from the Wiltshire town on Saturday at about 18:00 BST and finished in London at about 11:00 BST on Sunday, overcoming "very difficult conditions". "[The] strong winds didn't stop the whole race. It was in your face the whole time. It's quite energy-zapping and obviously it slows you down," Mr Sharpe told BBC Radio Wiltshire. This year's annual Devizes to Westminster Canoe Race saw more than 300 people take part and ended on Monday. The event first took place in 1948, with paddlers making their way to London over the Easter come from all over the world, including Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany and the United States. Reacting to their win, Mr Sharpe said: "[I'm] a little tired, I've got a slight croaky voice. But pretty ecstatic to win again."The event organiser Paul Fielden told BBC Radio Wiltshire lower water, particularly in the River Thames, made it so hard for paddlers that 50% withdrew as they failed to reach Teddington Lock on Sharpe, who is based in Richmond-upon-Thames, said the second half of the race from Reading to Westminster was "harder than usual" as there was "no water to push us down". To train, he says he paddles 62 miles (100km) and runs 31 miles (50km) every week between January and April. Mr Fielden said Mr Sharpe and Ms Freeman - whose win was her second in a row - beat their closest rivals by four minutes in a "fantastic race"."We had a 50% failure rate this year, lots of paddlers pulled out because of the conditions best described as brutal," he said."It's a tough race in the best of years, this year was exceptionally tough."The event is divided into different races: the senior doubles (non-stop), the stage races which are paddled over four days, and the junior doubles which involves eight hours paddling and an overnight camp.
