Gillian Cooke (born 3 October 1982) is a Scottish

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete and

bobsled Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of 2 to 4 athletes make timed speed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobs ...

der. She was born and brought up in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, and educated at

George Watson's College George Watson's College is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a Scottish education in the eighteenth ...

. She began her sporting career in track and field with Edinburgh Southern Harriers. In 2001, she took fourth place in the

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down the tr ...

at the

Commonwealth Youth Games The Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) is an international multi-sport event organized by the Commonwealth Games Federation. The games were held in the years, mid-way between when the Commonwealth Games are held, until 2008. They continued to be he ...

, and set a Scottish junior record for the

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a #bar, bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ...

. She set three Scottish senior records in the pole vault in two months in 2002, and was selected to represent Scotland in that event at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, ...

in Manchester. In 2003, she also began competing in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

, and took the silver medal at the

AAA championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the offi ...

. She began concentrating on the long jump in 2004, earning GB selection in that event in 2005. She represented Scotland in the long jump at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

in Melbourne, finishing eleventh. She also topped the Scottish

100 m sprint The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint (running), sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has ...

rankings and British

60 metres 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At indoor events, the 60 metres is run on lanes set out in the mi ...

rankings. Following a foot injury which delayed her track and field training, Cooke joined driver

Nicola Minichiello Nicola Minichiello (born Nicola Gautier on 21 March 1978) is a retired British bobsledder who competed between 2001 and 2011. She won two medals in the two-woman event at the FIBT World Championships, winning a silver in 2005 and making history ...

in the two-woman bobsleigh as brakewoman following a trial in October 2008. Minichiello and Cooke won the gold medal in the two-woman event at the

FIBT World Championships 2009 The FIBT World Championships 2009, officially known as the Bauhaus FIBT Bobsleigh & Skeleton World Championships, February 20 to March 1, 2009, at the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track in Lake Placid, New York, for the ninth time, doing so prev ...

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, Essex County, New York (state), New York, United States. In 2020, its population was 2,205. The village of Lake Placid ...

. The pair finished seventh at the same event in

St Moritz St. Moritz ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in the administrative region of Maloja in the Swiss ...

in 2010, despite some difficulty with Cooke's prototype racing suit, which split open in the seat, seconds before the start of her bobsleigh run. At the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

, they crashed out during the third run of the two-woman event and did not start the final run as a result. Following Minichiello's retirement from the sport, Cooke became brakewoman for Paula Walker, Minichiello's successor as British no. 1 driver. Rebekah Wilson replaced Cooke as Walker's partner and took the GBR1 slot for Sochi in 2014. Following her non-selection Cooke retired from bobsleigh and returned to athletics, attempting to obtain selection for the Scottish team in the long jump at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. However, she did not make the squad after she achieved the qualifying standard once, rather than twice as required, although her second longest jump was only 3 cm short of the standard.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, Gillian 1982 births Living people Athletes from Edinburgh People educated at George Watson's College Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Bobsledders at the 2010 Winter Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for Scotland Olympic bobsledders for Great Britain Scottish female bobsledders Scottish female sprinters British female sprinters Scottish female long jumpers Scottish female triple jumpers British female long jumpers British female triple jumpers British female pole vaulters Scottish female pole vaulters 21st-century Scottish sportswomen