Minichiello & Cooke: Britainâ€™s First Women Bobsleigh World Champions

Nicola Minichiello and Gillian Cooke became the first British women to win a Bobsleigh World Championship title when they won gold in Lake Placid this weekend.

Minichiello & Cooke: Britain’s First Women Bobsleigh World Champions

The pair had been second at the halfway mark overnight after two of the four runs that make up the World Championships – four-hundredths of a second behind leaders Shauna Rohbock and Elana Meyers of the USA. But the Brits produced an outstanding third run to head the field and followed that up with another solid performance on the fourth and final run to capture the world crown.

They became the first gold medallists from Britain since Anthony Nash and Robin Dixon at St Moritz in Switzerland in 1965.

A delighted Minicheillo said: "It's fantastic. It's great for my country. I'm so glad. I really felt going into here that this track is such a magical track that it could have been anybody's day, and it was."

Minichiello finished the World Cup series in third place overall, winning a silver and two bronzes in the eight race series. She also won bronze at the European Championships and the World Championship result has wrapped up an outstanding season for the Brits – with less than a year to go to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

World Championship results:
Gold: Nicola Minichiello/Gillian Cooke (GBR) – 3:48.22
Silver: Shauna Rohbock/Elana Meyers (USA) – 3:48.60
Bronze: Cathleen Martini/Janine Tischer (GER) – 3:48.84