Adele Nicoll ended her first Winter Olympics on a high as she piloted the British two-woman bobsleigh to a mid-pack finish.

In the women’s monobob, her first Olympic race as a driver, the Welshpool athlete finished 18th overall after four runs at the Cortina Sliding Centre.

Nicoll admitted she was “speechless” and “in shock” at the result, feeling her final heat in particular did not reflect her ability behind the D-rings.

She had earlier climbed as high as 13th at the halfway stage, trimming around a quarter of a second from her second-run time after overcoming what she described as “jelly legs” on Olympic debut.

Nicoll returned later in the week for the showpiece two-woman event, this time with Ashleigh Nelson on the brakes for Team GB.

A difficult opening day left them well down the order and around two seconds off the leading sleds, prompting a focus on tidying driving lines and sharpening the load into the sled.

They hit back strongly on day two, delivering two much cleaner runs and posting their fastest time of the competition in the final heat.

That late charge lifted them to 15th overall, with their closing efforts widely described as “impressive” given the pressure and the damage done on day one.

Although never in medal contention, Nicoll’s Games carried wider significance for British sliding.

She became the first Briton selected for the Olympic women’s monobob, adding that pioneering milestone to her swift transition from international shot putter to bobsleigh pilot.

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