How will the women's bobsleigh team use £30,000 to get to the Winter Olympics?

Mica McNeill tells Newsbeat how £30k will help in her bid to get to the Winter Olympics

''I've had the most insane seven days,'' Mica McNeill tells Newsbeat.

She's raised £30,000 to help get her bobsleigh team to the Winter Olympics.

Last week she told us she was ''gutted'' after finding out the British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association (BBSA) had ''no money'' to support her and team-mate Mica Moore, both 24.

Now their crowdfunding page has smashed its target, Mica has been filling us in on their spending plans.

The women's team were forced to crowd-source £30,000 after being told by the British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association (BBSA) that there had been an ''overspend''.

Three men's teams have continued to get financial support from the BBSA, which said it wanted to ''focus resources on winning medals at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang''.

But Mica McNeill says there are ''no hard feelings towards the men, they've worked hard and it's not their decision''.

''We are really disappointed not to have been chosen in front of one of the three men's teams, but we have to be focused on what needs to be done to get us there... in bobsleigh you have to have a clear mind so we're just focusing on the future''.

Mica's team mate Mica Moore

Bobsleigh video from Mica McNeill's Twitter

So, now they have the money in the bank how is it going to be spent over the next four months to secure their place in the Winter Olympics?

''I've met the British Olympic Association qualifying standard,'' Mica McNeill tells us ''which leaves me to get out on ice with the team and work towards a world ranking so I can get to the Winter Olympics.

''Bobsleigh is a really expensive sport so the £30,000 is the minimum we need.

"We need to freight our sled out to the USA for the first part of the World Cup next month and that alone could cost £10,000. Then we need to pay for hotels, travel and to get over there ourselves.

"We pay for training and to enter races... everything goes into covering what we need to do to perform and get to the games.

''I've never been in this situation before to self-fund so booking things and pricing things has been crazy in such a short timeframe!''

Team GB Twitter video of bobsleigh ride

Mica says she feels ''overwhelmed'' by the generosity of everyone who donated and she hopes in a round-about way it's boosted the profile of the sport.

''People are behind us and people are supporting us and it gives you more motivation to get in the gym and keep working hard through this difficult time for me and my team. It uplifts you.

''Bobsleigh in Great Britain isn't that well known and we want people to give it a chance.

''People have heard the story now and they have invested and I hope they'll keep an eye out and they'll learn to love bobsleigh as we do!''

The women's team posing with the Team GB logo

Mica's success has inspired another female bobsleigh athlete, Donna Creighton to launch her own crowdfunding campaign today.

"The Ex-Great Britain skeleton slider turned bobsleigh pilot has already raised more than a third of her £30,000 target following an anonymous £10,000 donation.

The Micas celebrating junior Bobsleigh World Championship gold in Winterberg earlier this year