Adele Nicoll
Nicoll at the IBSF World Championships 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Adel Mia Nicoll | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | British (Welsh) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 28 September 1996 Shrewsbury, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years active | c. 2011– (athletics) 2020– (bobsleigh) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 8.5 in (174 cm)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 80 kg (176 lb)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Birchfield Harriers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National finals | 2014–2024 inclusive (athletics) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commonwealth finals | 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Adel Mia Nicoll (born 28 September 1996) is a British shot putter, discus thrower and bobsledder. She has won multiple Welsh Athletics Championships events, and won the shot put event at the 2022, 2023 and 2025 UK Athletics Championships. She won the 2023–24 IBSF Bobsleigh European Cup in St. Moritz alongside Kya Placide, and came second in the 2021–22 Bobsleigh World Cup event in Sigulda, Latvia alongside Mica McNeill, and the 2023–24 Bobsleigh World Cup event in Lake Placid alongside Kya Placide. Nicoll was a reserve for the 2022 Winter Olympics, and competed for Wales at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Athletics career
Nicoll started competing in athletics for the Birchfield Harriers at the age of 14.[2] She reached the final of the shot put event at the 2013 World Youth Championships in Athletics.[1] Nicoll was not selected in the Welsh squads for the 2014 or 2018 Commonwealth Games; she only reached the B standard for the 2018 Games.[3]
Nicoll came third in the under-23s shot put event at the 2017 European Throwing Cup.[4] As of 2021, she had won the previous eight shot put events at the Welsh Athletics Championship;[5] her distance at the 2021 Welsh Athletics Championships was above the qualifying threshold for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.[3] At the 2021 British Athletics Championships, Nicoll came third in the shot put event.[6]
Nicoll came third in the shot put event at the 2022 British Indoor Athletics Championships, throwing a personal best distance of 17.02 metres.[7] The event was a week after she had returned from the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.[1] At the 2022 Welsh Athletics Championships, Nicoll won both the shot put and discus events.[8] In June 2022, she was selected in the Welsh team for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in the shot put event.[2] Later that month, she became the British shot put champion after winning the shot put event at the 2022 British Athletics Championships;[9] she had previously finished in third place in seven editions of the championships.[10] At the Commonwealth Games, Nicoll finished 8th in the shot put event with a distance of 17.30 metres.[11] Following the Games, Nicoll only trained in shot put one day a week, as her funding from UK Sport covers only bobsleigh and not athletics.[12] Nicoll won the shot put event at the 2023 British Athletics Championships[13] and in 2025 won her third British outdoor title at the 2025 UK Athletics Championships.[12]
Bobsleigh career
In 2020, Nicoll took up bobsleigh after being approached on Instagram by Mica McNeill, who had seen videos on social media of Nicoll exercising.[5][14] She spent most of the 2020–21 season in training,[14] and lost almost 20 kilograms (3.1 st; 44 lb) of body weight in order to compete.[5]
At the 2021–22 Bobsleigh World Cup, Nicoll competed in some events with McNeill, who also competed in events alongside Mica Moore and Montell Douglas. Nicoll, Moore and Douglas were all attempting to earn a place with McNeill for the 2-woman event at the 2022 Winter Olympics.[5] In January 2022, Nicoll and McNeill finished second in the World Cup event in Sigulda, Latvia.[15][16] It was the first time that a British woman had won a Bobsleigh World Cup medal for 13 years, and it was Nicoll's second World Cup event.[15] That month, McNeill and Douglas were confirmed as Britain's selections for the Olympics;[17] Nicoll travelled to the Games as a reserve.[16] Two weeks after the Olympics, she attended a bobsleigh driving school in Lake Placid, New York, US.[2] In the 2022–23 season, Nicoll started working as a pilot, in the monobob event.[18]
For the 2023–24 season, Nicoll moved from brakewoman to pilot in the 2-woman bobsleigh, where she competed alongside Kya Placide.[19] At the 2023–24 IBSF Bobsleigh European Cup in Lillehammer, Nicoll and debutant Placide finished third in the first 2-women bobsleigh event, and fifth in the second competition. Nicoll and Maddison Ilsley finished sixth in the third competition at the event.[20] At the European Cup in St. Moritz, Nicoll and Placide won the 2-women bobsleigh event, and Nicoll came second in the monobob event.[21] At the 2023–24 Bobsleigh World Cup event in Lake Placid, US, Nicoll and Placide finished second in the 2-women bobsleigh event.[22] Nicoll competed alongside Ashleigh Nelson in the 2-women event at the 2025 IBSF World Championships.[23] In the 2025–26 season, Nicoll competed alongside both Kya Placide and Ashleigh Nelson.[12]
Nicoll was selected for the 2026 Winter Olympics in both the monobob and 2-woman bob event, alongside Ashleigh Nelson. She was the first Briton to be selected for the monobob event at the Olympics.[24] At the Games, Nicoll finished 18th in the monobob[25][26] and 15th in the two-woman.[27][28]
Personal life
Nicoll is from Welshpool, Wales.[14] She attended Welshpool High School,[29] later studied clinical neuroscience at Cardiff Metropolitan University, graduating in 2020,[1] and also earned a doctorate in clinical psychology in 2023.[12] Nicoll has appeared on the BBC Three programme Go Hard Or Go Home.[22]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Adelé Nicoll". British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
- ^ a b c "Welshpool's Adele Nicoll overcomes doubters to reach Birmingham 2022". Shropshire Star. 9 June 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
- ^ a b "Adele Nicoll . . . Seven Years Of Waiting And Now She Has Commonwealth Games And Winter Olympics In Her Diary". Dai Sport. 15 August 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
- ^ "2017 European Cup Winter Throwing Results – U23 Women" (PDF). RFEA. 12 March 2017. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 March 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
- ^ a b c d "Meet the two Welsh athletes competing for the same Olympic bobsleigh spot". BBC Sport. 24 November 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
- ^ "Yarmouth athlete seals place at Tokyo Olympics". Eastern Daily Press. 27 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
- ^ "Bronze for Adele Nicoll on return". Shropshire Star. 2 March 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
- ^ "Adele Nicoll is a double Welsh champion". Shropshire Star. 14 June 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
- ^ "WAAA and National Championships Medallists". NUTS. 3 August 2025. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
- ^ "Charlotte Payne goes third on UK all-time hammer list". Athletics Weekly. 26 June 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
- ^ "Commonwealth Games: Athletics - Women's Shot Put results". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
- ^ a b c d "Meet the British shot put champion doubling up as a bobsleigh pilot with an eye on Milan 2026". The Guardian. 4 November 2025. Retrieved 2 December 2025.
- ^ "Great Britain's Adele Nicoll set to become a Winter and Summer Olympian". Inside the Games. 29 March 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
- ^ a b c "Adele Nicoll is eyeing the Winter Olympics and Commonwealth Games in 2022". The National. 21 November 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
- ^ a b "MICA MCNEILL AND ADELE NICOLL SOAR TO STUNNING WORLD CUP SILVER IN SIGULDA". Eurosport. 2 January 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
- ^ a b "Winter Olympics: Powys bobsleigh star Adele Nicoll in Team GB". Powys County Times. 20 January 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
- ^ "Winter Olympics: Montell Douglas becomes GB's first female summer and Winter Olympian with bobsleigh selection". BBC Sport. 20 January 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
- ^ "Adele launches season in Lillehammer today". My Welshpool. 16 November 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
- ^ "Winter Olympics: Welsh bobsleigh duo Adele Nicoll and Kya Placide set sights on 2026". BBC Sport. 25 January 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
- ^ "Medals & PBs in Bobsleigh Opener". British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
- ^ "Europa Cup: Adele Nicoll and Kya Placide win bobsleigh gold". BBC Sport. 19 January 2024. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
- ^ a b "GB duo excited to build on medal-winning season". BBC Sport. 1 December 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
- ^ "Nelson super excited after sporting switch". British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association. 13 March 2025. Retrieved 2 December 2025.
- ^ "Nicoll named first British monobob Olympian". BBC Sport. 22 January 2026. Retrieved 3 February 2026.
- ^ "Adele Nicoll ready to get more Olympic experience after debut". Runcorn and Widnes World. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
- ^ "Nicoll 'in shock' at 18th spot in Olympics monobob". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
- ^ "Welshpool's Adele Nicoll praised for her role in strong finish in two-women bobsleigh at Winter Olympics". Shropshire Star. Retrieved 22 February 2026.
- ^ "Nelson from summer Olympian to winter debut". Team GB. Retrieved 22 February 2026.
- ^ "Nicoll and Jones impress as Welshpool stars target Commonwealth Games glory". Powys County Times. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
External links
- Adele Nicoll at the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation
- Adele Nicoll at the British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association
- Adele Nicoll at Welsh Athletics
- Adel Mia Nicoll at Team Wales (archived)
- Adele Nicoll at Team GB
- Adele Nicoll at Olympics.com
- Adele Nicoll at Olympedia
- Adele Nicoll at InterSportStats
- Adele Nicoll at Milano Cortina 2026
- Adele Nicoll at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games