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British Bobsleigh appoint Michael Khmel as performance coach

British Bobsleigh Performance Director Gary Anderson has announced the appointment of Michael Khmel as performance coach. Khmel joins British Bobsleigh from UK Athletics where he was part of the coaching staff. The Russian speaking Khmel represented the USSR in bobsleigh before moving into coaching. He has considerable experience in both bobsleigh and athletics.

Anderson commented “When I was first appointed I made it clear that if we were serious about winning a medal in Sochi we needed to build a world class support team around our athletes, Michael brings with him real world-class abilities and experience he is truly one of the worlds leading coaches. I now have a team forming which I believe will add real value to our performance programme. To have someone the caliber of Michael in our programme working towards Sochi is paramount, he also has lots of contacts in Russia, speaks Russian and will be a real asset to us.

Khmels role will involve working with the British athletes on the push track training programme and the speed and power development, something which he has shown real success with the athletes he has worked with.  He will also head up special projects to identify and develop talent identified for bobsleigh.

On his appointment Khmel states “I am delighted to have been appointed as Performance Coach for GB Bobsleigh Team. Originally my background was in Bobsleigh and the wheel has fully turned and I am once again part of it!

I have experienced 5 Olympic Games and 8 World Championships in Athletics, where athletes under my command won medals, including athletes I coached personally. My original background of bobsleigh with knowledge of speed development and sprint mechanics will now be fully directed  to ensure that GB Bobsleigh will move further forward effectively   and efficiently towards Olympic and World Championships medals. I met with officials of British Bobsleigh last week and their enthusiasm and desire for Olympic medal success was infectious. I am thrilled to be part of such an excellent Team of professionals lead by GB Bobsleigh Performance Director Gary Anderson.

Khmel takes up his position on the 1^st of July and will hit the ground running meeting the athletes and undertaking training sessions from day 1.