Winter Olympics: Welsh bobsleigh duo Adele Nicoll and Kya Placide set sights on 2026

The Wales duo have reminders of home on their bobsleigh

Welsh bobsleigh duo Adele Nicoll and Kya Placide have set their sights on the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan.

Nicoll and Placide will make their Bobsleigh World Cup debut as a team in Lillehammer, Norway this weekend.

The pair are looking to build on Europa Cup bobsleigh gold in Switzerland where they earned Britain's first victory in that competition since 2017.

"We knew we could do something like that going into the race, we knew what we were capable of," said Nicoll.

"But bobsleigh is a difficult sport to execute because it's about consistency of the runs.

"We were in a good position after the first run and going into the second, we knew if we held it together, we could come away with gold."

New combination

A relatively new team, 19-year-old Placide made her bobsleigh debut alongside Nicoll, 27, at the same Norwegian venue in December 2023.

The pair both compete in athletics, with Nicoll winning back-to-back UK Championship titles in shot put and Placide a 100m sprinter.

It is in athletics where the pair formed a friendship, which has blossomed on the icy track.

"I always used to see Kya round the athletics track and she was always quite shy," said Nicoll.

"I decided I needed to do something about my speed because that's where I needed to develop, so I joined a sprints group that Kya was part of, so we had a little bit of interaction prior to the season.

"Kya got an invite down to try bobsleigh, she came down to Bath, loved it and our friendship has grown since."

Placide said: "There's no feeling like it. Nobody could have ever prepared me for the feeling.

"You can't compare it to anything else, it's the adrenaline. It's nothing like running the 100m, it's completely different."

The opportunity to take up bobsledding came at the perfect time for Placide, who had lost a bit of love for athletics.

"I was on the edge really," said Placide.

"Now I think bobsleigh is kind of helping with the track side because when I went back over Christmas to the training group, it felt like I was home again, it felt nice."

Speed and strength

Nicoll credits their athletics pedigree as to being the "right ingredients" for a good outcome.

"We always talk about my strength power and Kya's speed power, that forms a good start," said Nicoll.

"Because we trust each other, I want to go down the track and drive well for Kya, so when we get to the bottom, it's nice to celebrate together."

The team bonded over a 27-hour car journey with "deep and meaningful conversations", and they drive the sled themselves to the next event.

Nicoll jokes Placide is something of a "passenger princess" as she does not drive but as "DJ queen" she helps keep spirits up, as Nicoll and fellow bobsleigh rider Maddison Illsley split the journey at the wheel.

Great Britain bobsledders Kya Placide (left) and Adele Nicoll celebrate gold in St Moritz

While competing under the GB banner, the team are proud of their Welsh roots, with the Dragon flag and crest of The New Saints football club adorning the sled.

"We were stood on the podium the other day and we both thought, 'Oh no we know the Welsh national anthem off by heart, we have to think about the British one'," said Nicoll.

"We're proud to be Welsh, we're proud to be British, but I think it's important to recognise our home nation.

"Everyone from Wales has a connection regardless where you're from. If you're Welsh, you're automatically friends."

Winter Olympics dream

The pair have outlined their Winter Olympic ambitions for Milan 2026, with Nicoll having had a taste of the Games in 2022 as a reserve.

Having swapped her role as brakewoman to learn to pilot the sled since then, Nicoll hopes she can bestow some wisdom to her younger team-mate.

"I can see Kya's potential in the sport," said Nicoll.

"There's still enough of an age difference where I can provide her some experience and hopefully then her trajectory will be greater than mine, because you're coming in earlier and having the advice of someone that was in your position.

"Coming into this year my expectations were, 'I want to make the 2026 Olympics', but now I'm like, 'We're going to the 2026 Games'.

"Along the way I want us to win as many international medals as possible. I genuinely believe we could go to 2026 now and not just be scraping qualification, but be competitive with the top girls in the world.

"I think we are probably on track to making history with British women's bobsleigh."

Nicoll's overall goal is shared by Placide.

"I want us to go to the 2026 Olympics," said Placide. "I think we could definitely get there without a doubt, just by putting in the work."