Cooke praises strength of Team Minichiello

WHEN it comes to women's bobsleigh, two's company and three's a crowd but try telling that to Edinburgh long jumper turned brakewoman Gillian Cooke.

The 26-year-old, who has been fast-tracked for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, has been a revelation since answering driver Nicola Minichiello's Facebook rallying cry last August.

Cooke claimed European Championship bronze and Britain's first ever World Cup medal, silver, in Koenigsee in January less than five months after first setting foot inside a bobsleigh.

But with this month's World Championships in Salt Lake City fast approaching, Cooke faces stiff competition from two-time Olympian and Minichiello's long-serving partner Jackie Gunn.

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Minichiello and Gunn recorded Britain's best World Championship finish for 40 years, claiming silver in 2005 before finishing ninth at the Turin Olympics a year later.

However, Cooke and Gunn now face a straight fight to partner Minichiello with exactly a year to go until Vancouver 2010 - but the Scot insists there is no bitterness between the two.

"Things are still very new to me but I am here solely to help the team out I wouldn't have answered Nicola's call otherwise," said Cooke - who competed for Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in 2002 and 2006 and is the co-holder of the Scottish long-jump record.

"Nicola and Jackie have had fantastic success in the past and they will always have that connection - I just want to be part of it now I have got my foot in the door.

"Confidence is high off the back of our World Cup performances and everyone is very helpful.

"It has been a steep learning curve but the results I have been able to achieve alongside Nicola have given me a great deal of confidence."

Cooke would appear to have an early upper hand over Gunn, having started five races this season in comparison to the 31-year-old's two.

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But the Scot - who still intends to pursue athletics in the summer - is keeping her feet firmly rooted to the ground despite her meteoric bobsleigh rise.

"It is very much sink or swim time considering the stage of the cycle I have joined at but I am definitely swimming," she added.

"I would love to go to the Olympics - that has always been my ambition regardless of the sport I am in."

RYAN BANGS