Kristan Bromley

Kristan Bromley (born March 7, 1972 in Rossendale) is a British skeleton racer who has competed since 1996. He won the gold medal in the men's event at the 2008 FIBT World Championships in Altenberg, Germany. This was Great Britain's first gold medal at the FIBT World Championships since 1965.

Competing in two Winter Olympics, Bromley's best finish was fifth in the men's skeleton event at Turin in 2006.

He has twice won the men's overall Skeleton World Cup title (2003-4, 2007-08).^[1]

In 2008 he became the first man in history to win the World Championship, European Championship and World Cup in the same season.

FIBT World Cup: 2009/10 Season

Kristan finished the season in 6th place overall in the World Cup. Highlights of the season were a Bronze Medal in Park City and a Silver medal in St. Moritz. The season's results were;

Round 1: Park City, USA Bronze Medal (3rd place) Round 2: Lake Placid, USA 9th place Round 3: Cesana (Torino), Italy 16th place (after problem on start) Round 4: Winterberg, Germany 6th place Round 5: Altenberg, Germany 13th place Round 6: Konigssee, Germany 4th place Round 7: St Moritz, Switzerland Silver Medal (2nd place) Round 8: Igls, Austria 8th place. The Igls race also counted as the 2010 European Championships, and Kristan finished in 7th place.

2010 Winter Olympics

On 29 January 2010, Kristan was officially announced as part of the Team GB Skeleton Bobsleigh squad to compete at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. Other squad members included Adam Pengilly, with Shelley Rudman and Amy Williams in the women's competition. Bromley finished sixth in the men's event.

Skeleton sled work

Nicknamed Doctor Ice by the British media because he earned a PhD from the University of Nottingham in 1999 with a thesis entitled "Factors affecting the performance of skeleton bobsleds".

He appeared in an episode of Discovery Channel's Building the Winter Games documentary, showing his preparation for the 2006 Winter Olympics, building his sled, and being introduced to the Cesana Pariol bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track for the first time.

Kristan races on sleds designed and produced with his brother Richard by their company, Bromley Technologies Ltd. In 2007, Kristan and the company relocated from Bath to the Sheffield area. Kristan trains at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield whilst the sleds are manufactured at the companies' base on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP).

Kristan is supported by Bromley Technologies' Formula Ice 2010 programme. This sponsorship funded, high performance sports engineering initiative operates in a similar way to a mini Formula One team and seeks to add value to athlete performance through technological innovation and expertise. This unique programme currently supports Kristan, Shelley Rudman and Nicola Minichiello (Bobsleigh).

Personal life

Kristan Bromley, known as “Dr Ice”, graduated with a BEng in Mechanical Design, Materials and Manufacture from The University of Nottingham in 1994, before earning his Ph.D. in materials engineering after writing a thesis called Factors Affecting the Performance of Skeleton Bobsleigh

Bromley's fiancée is Shelley Rudman, who won the silver medal in the women's skeleton event at the 2006 games in Turin. Rudman received her medal while Bromley was competing in the men's skeleton event. He became a father in October 2007 with Rudman.

Bromley is sponsored by the global marketing agency, GyroHSR. He was previously sponsored by King of Shaves.

References

• BBC.co.uk article on Bromley's research
• BBC.co.uk profile on Bromley for the 2002 Winter Olympics
• BBC Sport Assessment of Medal hopes at 2006 Winter Olympics
• Shave.com profile
• Skeletonsport.com profile
• List of men's skeleton World Cup champions since 1987
• 2002 men's skeleton results
• 2006 men's skeleton results

External links

• Kristan Bromley's Official website
• Bromley Technologies website
• Kristan Bromley at the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation