Winter Olympics 2018: British bobsleigh women crowdfund their way to Korea

Britain’s leading female bobsleigh athletes paid tribute to the ‘power of the people’ on Tuesday after they crowdfunded their way to Winter Olympics selection.

Mica McNeill and Mica Moore were stripped of all their cash last September when they were told they was only enough money to keep the British men’s team going.

The pair, who won world junior gold last year, immediately launched a crowdfunding page and raced throughout the season with ‘Powered By The People’ written on their sled after raising more than £40,000.

“When I first got the news it was really emotional and there were lots of different feelings,” said McNeill of the moment she found out about the funding loss.

“I was absolutely devastated. That emotion kind of takes over and your brain automatically pulls you to, ‘It’s over, my career is over’.

“But that was really short-lived for me and it really quickly switched to, ‘No, I have to do something about this’.

“We were not just going to roll over and give up. It very quickly turned to, ‘Right, we will have to fight for this and if we want to get to the Olympic Games which we know we can get to, we have to somehow gather the money together to do it.’”

Aided by public donations and the help of local sponsors, McNeill and Moore secured the best result for British women at a Bobsleigh World Cup for more eight years when they finished fifth in Canada in November.

“That money from the gofundme page, that was the base, that was the start, and that has been what has put our whole season together,” said McNeill.

“People see ‘Powered By The People’ on our sled and ask what it means and we can say, ‘the people of Great Britain have powered us to get here’.

“Not just with donations – whether it’s been messages of support or sharing our story, the people of Great Britain have got here.

“The last thing we wanted to do was let them down. I hope they can all watch us and be proud.”

Britain are yet to win a medal since women’s bobsleigh was added to the Winter Olympics in 2002.

Ten bobsleigh athletes have been selected for February’s Pyeongchang Games with Lamin Deen and Brad Hall the two male pilots after a minor stroke ruled Bruce Tasker out of selection.