Dominic Edward Parsons (born 8 September 1987) is a British former

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside ...

racer. He won a bronze medal at the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

Pyeongchang Pyeongchang (; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ; ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of Seou ...

, South Korea, and also competed at the

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

, Russia. He retired from the sport at the end of 2019.

Career

Parsons began as a runner for

Blackheath and Bromley Harriers Athletic Club Blackheath & Bromley Harriers AC is an athletics club based in South-East London, England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies ...

, running the 400m. He switched to

in 2007 after being introduced to the sport by

Adam Pengilly Adam Laird Pengilly (born 14 October 1977) is a British skeleton racer who has competed since 2004. He won a silver medal in men's skeleton event at the FIBT World Championships 2009 in Lake Placid. Pengilly finished eighth in the men's skele ...

at the Bath bobsleigh and skeleton push-start track. He made his Europa Cup debut in 2008, and finished fourth at the 2009 and 2010 IBSF Junior Skeleton World Championships. Parsons made his

Skeleton World Cup The Skeleton World Cup season is a yearly competition first organized by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF), originally known by the French name ''Fédération Internati ...

debut in December 2012, finishing 17th in a race at

La Plagne La Plagne () is a French ski area in the alpine valley of the Tarentaise (Savoie). Since 2003, La Plagne and the neighbouring resort of Les Arcs form Paradiski's ski area. It is currently owned by Compagnie des Alpes. In 2014, La Plagne was ...

in France. In 2013, Parsons won a bronze medal at a World Cup event in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, Canada. Parsons competed at the

, Russia, finishing tenth. Parsons finished fifth overall in the 2014–15 and

2015–16 Skeleton World Cup The 2015–16 Skeleton World Cup was a multi-race tournament over a season for skeleton. The season started on 27 November 2015 in Altenberg, Germany, and ended on 28 February 2016 in Königssee, Germany. The World Cup was organised by the IBSF ...

s, and tenth overall in the

2016–17 Skeleton World Cup The 2016–17 Skeleton World Cup was a multi-race series over a season for skeleton. The season started on 2 December 2016 in Whistler, Canada and ended on 17 March 2017 in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The World Cup was organised by the IBSF (former ...

. In January 2018, Parsons finished fourth at the World Cup event in St. Moritz, Switzerland. He achieved three consecutive top ten finishes in the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

between the 2014 and 2018 Olympics, finishing seventh in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, tenth in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

and eighth in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

. At the

, South Korea, Parsons came first in the second practice run. His sled was specifically designed for the Pyeongchang track. He later won a bronze medal in the men's skeleton event. His medal was Great Britain's first at the Games, and the first for a British male in skeleton since John Crammond at the

1948 Winter Olympics The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games (german: V. Olympische Winterspiele; french: Ves Jeux olympiques d'hiver; it, V Giochi olimpici invernali; rm, V Gieus olimpics d'enviern) and commonly known as St. Moritz ...

. Parsons' starting speed has been hampered by an ankle injury on the way to a dentist's appointment, which required ligament reconstruction surgery. On 28 December 2019, the British Bobsleigh & Skeleton Association announced that Parsons was retiring from competition, after starting the season's first two races in Lake Placid, and that teammate Jerry Rice will take his place on the World Cup roster.

Personal life

Parsons is currently studying for a PhD at the

University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

, researching combustion in turbo-diesel engines. Parsons and

Kristan Bromley Kristan Bromley (born 7 March 1972) is a retired 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 ...

own a company which produces sleds. Parsons is in a relationship with Australian skeleton racer

Jaclyn Narracott Jaclyn Narracott (born 5 November 1990) is an Australian skeleton racer who competes on the Skeleton World Cup circuit. She began international skeleton competition in 2012 when she joined the Australian national team; in 2011 she competed in ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parsons, Dominic 1987 births Skeleton racers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Skeleton racers at the 2018 Winter Olympics Living people Olympic skeleton racers of Great Britain English male skeleton racers Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Medalists at the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in skeleton Sportspeople from London Alumni of the University of Bath Team Bath winter athletes 20th-century British people 21st-century British people