Snow Limits As TASS Alumni Chase Beijing Glory

A perfect 10 former TASS athletes chase Olympic success this month as the world’s greatest winter sports party takes place in China.

The Beijing Winter Olympics gets underway on February 4 with a 50-strong squad of British athletes bidding for glory.

And TASS maintains its strong tradition of supporting the rising stars of the winter sports scene with 10 Team GB athletes benefitting from our support during their careers.

Four years ago TASS stars past and present accounted for a phenomenal seven medals at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and Paralympics.

In 2018 skeleton whizz Lizzy Yarnold bagged the second gold medal of her career before visually impaired alpine skier Menna Fitzpatrick (alongside her guide Jennifer Kehoe) topped the podium.

Both Lizzy and Menna were backed by TASS at the start of their dual career journeys and both have cited our support as key to their development and success.

Fast forward four years and another locked-in generation of TASS alumna has its eyes on building a legacy for the winter Olympians to come.

Man of the moment Dave Ryding received five years’ of TASS support through the late noughties as he played catch-up with the world’s best alpine skiers.

And last month decades of hard work and dedication paid off big time as the bullish 35-year-old became the first British man to win a World Cup slalom event.

Ryding is in the form of his life as he heads to Beijing and he’s not alone.

Bobsledder Mica McNeill famously crowd-funded her way to PyeongChang and will join former sprinter Montell Douglas in the GB bob four years down the line.

Two years of TASS support a decade ago helped the County Durham-born athlete to compete at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics in Innsbruck.

And McNeill — partnered by Adele Nicoll — claimed the best result of her career with silver at the World Cup event in Latvia last month.

Brothers Farrell and Niall Treacy both benefitted from TASS support on their way to grabbing places in GB’s three-person short track speed skating squad.

Team-mate Kathryn Thomson is another TASS alumna heading for Beijing to compete in a notoriously unpredictable event made famous by Elise Christie.

It’s 10 years since skeleton medal hope Laura Deas was supported by TASS and the 2018 Olympic bronze medallist will be hoping to go at least one better this month.

Check out the full list of TASS athletes heading to Beijing:

Bob Skeleton – Laura Deas

Bobsleigh – Nick Gleeson, Bradley Hall, Mica McNeill

Alpine Skiing – Dave Ryding

Freestyle Skiing (Aerials) – Lloyd Wallace

Freeski Slopestyle & Big Air – Katie Summerhayes

Short-track speed skating – Farrell Treacy, Niall Treacy, Kathryn Thomson

Listing Image: Niall Treacy, Kathryn Thomson and coach Richard Shoebridge in Beijing.