Amy Williams He tamed the infamous Whistler track to claim skeleton gold and become Britain’s first individual Winter Olympic champion in 30 years.
Williams, 27, ran four near-perfect runs to claim victory by more than half a second, on a course that was disrupted by the death of Georgian sledger Nodar Kumaritashvili last week.
Williams entered the British Winter Games Hall of Fame, following figure skater Robin Cousins throughout, after setting a record 53.83 on his first run and breaking the record with a score of 53.68 on the first of his last two runs.
Williams says, “I love this track. Once you get over the fear factor, you learn to love it and speed is your friend. You have to work with it and relax, and if you do, it’s a great track to skate.”
Williams’ record-breaking run helped him hold the 0.3-second lead overnight, and he insisted he never let his position play in his mind, despite fears that his nerves might play a role when he returned to the track on Friday.
“I surprised myself that I wasn’t really nervous,” Williams added. “I slept absolutely perfectly and I was pretty excited. It doesn’t feel like the Olympic Games – it feels like a regular World Cup race, except more people are shouting for me.
“I’m not very good at statistics, so I didn’t realize for a long time that I was the first (individual) gold medalist. But I think it shows that any country can be good at any sport if you are determined and you just have to concentrate and do your best.”