SKELETON BOB: Time is still on Rudman’s slide (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

SKELETON BOB: Time is still on Rudman’s slide

1:30pm Friday 2nd November 2012 in Sport By Dan Barnes

SHELLEY Rudman doesn’t know what her main motivation for the next Winter Olympics will be just yet but the Pewsey star is confident that time is on her side to figure that out before Sochi 2014.

The 31-year-old won a silver medal at Turin 2006 before competing in Vancouver 2010, and is targeting her third Winter Olympics appearance at the next games in Russia.

Rudman says that sliding in front of her young daughter Ella, who is now four-years-old, spurred her on two years ago in Canada and she’s hoping that her next inspiration will help her add further shine to her record as Great Britain’s most successful female skeleton athlete of all time.

“Lots of my motivation is doing what I do is for people,” Rudman told the Gazette and Herald.

“I don’t know if that sounds weird or not but a lot of my motivation for Vancouver was so that my daughter Ella could see her mummy compete in an Olympics.

“So now I’ve got to find my next motivation for 2014.

“I use everything as stepping stones and I don’t guarantee that I’m in Soichi but it is a long-term goal.

“I’d love to go to a third Olympics and I’d love to go there as an Olympic medallist – I’d be the only one on the team doing that.”

The 500-day countdown to the Sochi Games started in late September and Sheffield-based Rudman says that the hype surrounding the London 2012 Olympics has even created some positive feeling towards her winter sport.

She added: “I think now that 2012’s complete, we’re moving more towards Soichi and fingers crossed there’ll be a bit more interest in it because of that.

“I was invited by the BOA to the opening ceremony and I was sat with all of the Olympic medallists from all sports – it was just an amazing experience to be sat with all those people.

“I went to athletics and watched Jess (Ennis), who’s a friend, the weight-lifting finals and the boxing finals.

“It was amazing and a really positive vibe and I’ve noticed through the messages that I’ve been getting that the support is starting to come to us – some people have been saying ‘I really hope you get to Soichi’ and things like that, which is really nice.

“I’m still always, always looking for sponsors.

“I’ve got some good ones at the moment but I need a big cash sponsor to help fund all the extras to my programme.”