Gillian Cooke interview: Cooke looking to slay all comers after jumping to winter sports

Published on Friday 26 June 2009 22:22

GILLIAN Cooke's calendar turned upside down last year and it's not going to right itself anytime soon. Where once winter was a fallow period for the 26-year-old from Edinburgh and summer her busiest time, now it's the other way round.

From around the turn of the century until 2008, Cooke has been a regular competitor at athletics meetings, initially as a triple-jumper, then in the pole vault, and latterly, with most success, as a long-jumper. This year, she will have no more than the occasional outing at a track-and-field event, as she concentrates instead on her aim of winning bobsleigh gold at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

And it is a realistic aim. In February, just a few months after taking up the sport, Cooke won the world championship alongside Great Britain team-mate Nicola Minichiello. That success ensured Team GB of a place at the Olympics, but Cooke herself faces a fierce fight to hold on to her berth.

She shook up the British squad by beating far more experienced brakewomen to join driver Minichiello in the two-woman team which took gold at Lake Placid, and knows that her rivals will raise their game in an effort to oust her. Which means that for the next few months virtually all of her training will be geared towards victory in Vancouver.

"Going into this year I thought I'd have a full summer season (of athletics], and now I'm not going to have that," Cooke explained. "I've got a great shot to go for an Olympic medal next year and I don't want to jeopardise it in any way. So it has curtailed my athletics this year. But I definitely want to get back to it and try to qualify for the Commonwealth Games next year.

"I've always wanted to compete on the world stage. To have a shot at going into the Olympics as a realistic medal prospect is something that I didn't think would happen so soon, if at all. I'd always wanted to go to an Olympics as a long-jumper. To have a chance in another sport is a dream come true."

Although Cooke became a world champion after just months as a brakewoman, she had been unwittingly preparing for the role for some years before. "It looks like an overnight success, but I've been training for over ten years to be able to do that," she continued. "It is probably five, six or seven seconds of effort, which is very, very similar to my long-jump run-up.

"It felt natural right from the word go, really. I went down, had a shot, and in my first session the times I was pushing would have ranked me quite high in the squad. I've done gymnastics and pole vault in the past, and I think my skill acquisition is quite good. Being able to pick up new skills really quickly, and applying the speed and power I've got from my athletics training, is probably what helped me."

A brakewoman's job is to carry on pushing for a little while after the driver has jumped into the sleigh, to memorise information about the track so as to discuss it with the driver afterwards, and to apply the brakes once the finishing line has been crossed. It is a demanding role, but, in terms of expertise, it is subsidiary to that of the driver.

The British team can change the driver as well as the brakewoman for the Olympics, but realistically the next few months are all about who will accompany Minichiello. "Nicola is the best driver in Britain and in the world, so it would be foolish to put anybody else in as the driver apart from her," Cooke went on.

"The competition for brakewoman is going to be slightly more intense. At the moment I'm ranked No1, so I just have to hold that position going into the Games next year. We've got tests all the way through. The first round of selection is on 11 and 12 July, and that's just a chance for everyone to get the minimum standard to be included in the team. Then the main selection starts in September.

"I know the other girls are out to knock me off the top position and that provides great motivation. You can't expect to walk into the Olympic team. It's the highest level of sport. Bobsleigh is something I've really got into. It's fantastic, I love the travelling, and I love the intense level of competition. I don't think I'll ever lose my love of long-jumping, but it has been easier than I thought to make the switch."

Eventually she will switch back again – perhaps around this time next year, when the composition of the Scotland team for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi is to be decided. This season, though, she may make no more than a couple of appearances in addition to a recent outing in Birmingham.

"My intention was to do three competitions (this season] and leave it at that. I came out in Birmingham, I had a shot, I was carrying a small injury, and, to be honest, it would probably have been a better decision not to have done it. It was a horrible day as well.

"I've just got tightness in my calves and my Achilles. I ended last season with an Achilles injury and it's not something I want to go through again. I got away with it going into the bobsleigh season, but I don't want to be in that position again. I need to get myself injury-free. I won't set a foot on an athletics track until I am.

"My main focus is Vancouver, and I can't do anything to jeopardise my chances of making the team and getting a medal. Birmingham really made me reassess how much I can put into my athletics this year. It's an easy decision in some ways, but a hard decision in others. I want to get back to long-jumping, and I've got unfinished business with the Scottish record, so I'll definitely be back. But I can't take any risks. Bobsleigh is the one that's my priority at the moment."

Given that next year's Commonwealth Games are in October, Cooke should have plenty time to turn her calendar round again: to recover from her bobsleigh exertions and start long-jumping in earnest again. She is confident she can keep on improving at the discipline, and has a very specific target in mind.

"I want to go to my third Commonwealth Games. I made the final last time – I want to have a shot at a medal this time. I've jumped as far as the Scottish record (of six metres, 43 centimetres], just indoors rather than outdoors. Myra Nimmo set it in 1973 – it's the oldest record in the book. I really believe I can get that distance and further, and I wouldn't want to consider retiring from long jump until I've got that."

FACTFILE

&#149 Born: Edinburgh, 3 October 1982.

&#149 Member of Edinburgh Southern Harriers club.

&#149 Represented Scotland at age-group level in triple jump.

&#149 Broke Junior and Senior Scottish records at pole vault.

&#149 2002: In Scotland squad for Manchester Commonwealth Games as pole vaulter.

&#149 2003: Won long jump silver medal at UK championships.

&#149 2006: In Scotland squad for Melbourne Commonwealth Games as long jumper.

&#149 2009: Won two-woman bobsleigh gold with Nicola Minichiello at World Cup in Lake Placid, USA.

&#149 Second Proudest Bobsleigh Moment: Minichiello on Question of Sport, where she got all her questions right and guessed the mystery guest.