With the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games just around the corner, we take a look at the British Athletes who have made the switch from summer to winter pursuits and vice versa, representing Team GB (or coming very close) at both Summer and Winter Games.
Once upon a time it was athletics or cricket in the summer, rugby, hockey or maybe football in the winter. Simple, yes? But there are other options. And while athletics is traditionally a sport for warmer months, though of course cross country was and is an autumn/winter pursuit, and the advent of indoor athletics competitions means that for some the athletics programme can encompass the whole year, what of those who take their athletic abilities off the track, or the field, altogether? Afterall, athletics when you strip it right down is running, jumping and throwing, the basis upon which almost all other sports are built. What of those who switch from athletics to winter sports?
Athletes from several countries have competed at both the Summer and Winter Olympics. The most common crossover is from sprinting, hurdles, jumps or hept/decathlon to bobsleigh, the explosive power and speed intrinsic to these events transitioning well to the bobsleigh push-start. Here are those who have worn the British vest and the British race suit.
British Summer and Winter Olympians
Montell Douglas was the first British woman to compete at both the Summer and Winter Olympics. A former British record holder in the 100m, she competed in athletics at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and then as a bobsleigh brake-woman at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
The first British man to compete in both Summer and Winter Olympics was Colin Campbell, competing at the 1968 Mexico Summer Olympics in 400m and the 4x400m relay, and the 1972 Munich Olympics in 800m. Campbell’s switch to bobsleigh saw him compete as part of the four-man Great Britain team at the 1976 Innsbruck Winter Olympics.
Sprinter Allyn Condon competed in the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics before switching to bobsleigh and competing at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
Image: Mark Shearman
John Herbert competed in the triple jump at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics and the 1988 Seoul Olympics. In between he won Commonwealth gold in 1986 at Edinburgh. Herbert made the switch to bobsleigh in 1993 and was part of the four-man team at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympic Games.
Two former Summer Olympians appeared at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. Sprinter Marcus Adam who had run 100m, 200m, and 4 x 100m relay at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics was part of the two-man bobsleigh team, and hurdler Philip Harries who had competed in the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics was a member of the four-man team.
It’s not just about bobsleigh: Percy Legard represented Great Britain in modern pentathlon at the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles 1932 and Berlin 1936, and in Nordic combined at the Winter Olympics in 1936 at Garmisch-Partenkirchen and 1948 at St Moritz.
Some who came so close
Long jumper Greg Rutherford competed at Beijing 2008, London 2012 where he won gold, and Rio 2016 taking bronze. He became part of the Team GB bobsleigh crew looking to compete at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, however injury during preparations ruled him out.
Similarly, sprinter Craig Pickering who competed in the 100m at Beijing 2008 made the switch across to bobsleigh with a view to making the crew for the 2014 Sochi Winter Games, however a back injury ultimately ruled him out of the squad.
These ones have medals
Jasmin Sawyers won Team GB’s first ever medal at a Youth Winter Olympics when she and Mica McNeill took silver at Innsbruck in 2012. Jasmin has since represented Great Britain in long jump at the Summer Olympics in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
Three of the bronze medal winning four-man bobsleigh team of John Jackson, Stuart Benson, Bruce Tasker, and Joel Fearon who competed at the 2014 Sochi Olympics also competed in athletics to a high level. Joel Fearon represented Great Britain in the 100m at the 2013 World Championships. Bruce Tasker was junior 400m champion and had a successful domestic athletics career before switching to bobsleigh. Team Scotland sprinter and long jumper Stuart Benson attended a bobsleigh talent identification day in 2011 where he was picked up by the British team.
While they finished in fifth at the time of the Games in 2014, the subsequent disqualification of the two Russian teams in first and fourth for doping offences saw the GB Team upgraded to the bronze medal position in March 2019, almost six years after the event.
One to watch
mage: International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association, courtesy of BBSA
Sprinter Ashleigh Nelson has competed at three Summer Olympics; Beijing 2008, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. Nelson is a member of the current British women’s bobsleigh team who are looking to qualify for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina. If they qualify, this will make Nelson only the second British woman, and one of only a handful of British athletes, male or female, to be both Summer and Winter Olympians. Qualification closes on January 18th, watch this space…