Astrid Loch-Wilkinson

Personal information
Born	(1982-09-14) 14 September 1982 (age 43) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Alma mater	University of Sydney
Occupation	Veterinarian
Years active	2003-2014
Height	168 cm (5 ft 6 in) (2014)[1]
Weight	60 kg (132 lb) (2014)
Sport
Country	Australia
Sport	Bobsleigh
Event	Two Woman Bobsleigh
Coached by	Will Alstergren
Updated on 6 February 2014

Astrid Loch-Wilkinson (born 14 September 1982), also known as Astrid Radjenovic, is an Australian veterinarian and athlete best known for piloting the Australian bobsleigh in the 2006, 2010, and 2014 Winter Olympics. Australia entered its first women's bobsleigh team into the 2004-2005 World Cup with the team of Loch-Wilkinson and brake-woman Brigitte Egan.^[2] In 2006, Loch-Wilkinson and brake-woman Kylie Reed represented Australia as the first women's bobsleigh team for the nation at the Winter Olympics.^[3]

In 1999 and 2000 she competed in various track and field running events.

While a student at the University of Sydney, she played soccer, continuing the sport later as a member of the Sunshine Coast FC women's team.

Following the 2006 Winter Olympics, she competed in the 2006 Australian national weightlifting titles, earning a bronze in the 69g division.

She grew up in Sydney^[4] and was educated at Abbotsleigh,^[5] Wahroonga^[4] and the University of Sydney, where she qualified in veterinary science.^[5] Loch-Wilkinson was a national finalist in 400 metres hurdles.^[6] She took up bobsleigh at the suggestion of Hannah Campbell-Pegg,^[7] Australia's first Olympic woman luge competitor.

Loch-Wilkinson took up bobsleigh racing in 2003^[8] and financed her own entry into competition each season.^[9]

She competed in the World Cup and Europa Cup in both the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 seasons.^[10] Loch-Wilkinson and brake-woman Kylie Reed secured 5th place at the opening 2004-2005 Europa Cup race in Igls.^[11] With brake-woman Brigitte Egan, Loch-Wilkinson finished 23rd at the FIBT World Championships in the two-woman event at Calgary in 2005.^[2] Loch-Wilkinson and Egan were the first Australian women's bobsleigh team to compete in the World Cup.^[2]

During the 2005-2006 Europa Cup, Loch-Wilkinson and brake-woman Reed won the first medal for the Australian bobsleigh team at the opening track in Igls with a time of 1:50.96, securing a silver for that run.^[12] In the January 2006 World Cup event held in Deer Valley, Utah, the team placed 17th with a time of 1:44.49, securing a slot in the 2006 Winter Olympics at Turin.^[13]

Loch-Wilkinson has been in three Winter Olympics, earning her best finish of 14th in the two-woman event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.^[14][15] Loch-Wilkinson and brake-woman Reed were the first women's bobsleigh representatives at the Olympics for Australia.^[16][17] After Turin, Reed retired and Loch-Wilkinson did not compete the following season because of the high costs involved.^[18] She had competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics through the support of the NSWIS Campaign's Individual Scholarship Program.^[19]

In December 2009, Loch-Wilkinson and brake-woman Cecilia McIntosh scored silver, bronze, and silver over the three days of the America's Cup in Park City, Utah.^[20] They ranked fourth at Calgary^[21] and took silver at Lake Placid.^[22] At the end of December 2009, Loch-Wilkinson ranked 33rd in the world.^[23] By the end of January 2010, Loch-Wilkinson ranked 22nd in the world.^[24] Initially, the FIBT had stated that competitors would only need to rank in the top 40 to qualify for the 2010 Winter Olympics, but the number was dropped to 20 just before the end of the qualifying period, immediately removing Loch-Wilkinson and McIntosh from the competition.^[24] After an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport which rested on the fact that without allowing them to compete there would be no representatives for Oceania,^[25] Loch-Wilkinson and McIntosh were allowed to compete in Vancouver.^[26] They placed 19th in an event marred by spectacular crashes by the Great Britain1 and Germany2 teams,^[27][28] as well as a near-miss for Loch-Wilkinson that resulted in her completing one run without her visor.^[25]

After attracting corporate sponsor Avante IT,^[29] Loch-Wilkinson set about rebuilding a new team^[30] with better equipment^[31] and competed in Europe in 2010–2011. In that season she finished 10th and 9th in Europa Cup in Igls and 8th in Cesana Pariol in Italy in fields of up to 20 sleds that included 4 Olympic finalists from 2010.^{[citation needed]} In January 2011 Loch-Wilkinson and brake-woman Jamie Hedge were readmitted to the elite World Cup Tour,^[32] their best placing being 13th in the final race in Cesana Pariol, prior to the World Championships in Koenigsee.^{[citation needed]} As a team, they won a bronze medal in Europa Cup in January 2011 at St. Moritz.^[33]

At the FIBT World Championships in Königsee in February 2011 she finished 14th of 22 sleds, with novice brake-woman Fiona Cullen.^{[citation needed]}

On November 18, 2011, Loch-Wilkinson and brake-woman Hedge ranked sixth in the Europa Cup on the track at Igls.^[34]

She competed in the World Cup Tour in 2011/2012. In Altenberg, Germany in January 2012 she achieved 9th place (with novice brake-woman Ebony Gorincu) – hitherto the best ever placing by any Australian bobsledder (male or female) in elite international competition. She followed this up with three more top 10 placings in the latter half of the World Cup Tour. At season's end in 2012, she was placed 11th overall in the World Cup rankings.^{[citation needed]}

In 2012/2013, the Aussie Icebirds were one of only a few teams to contest every race in a 9 race World Cup series.^{[citation needed]} At the first race on November 8, 2012, Loch-Wilkinson and brake-woman Fiona Harrison ranked 16th at Lake Placid.^[35]

In late December 2012 the team was joined by former world champion 400-metre hurdler, Jana Pittman,^[36] a former track and field training partner of Astrid.^[37] They took 7th place in a field of 13 sleds in early January 2013 on the challenging Altenberg track in Germany, the best ever result by any Australian bobsled.^[38] On January 12, 2013, Loch-Wilkinson and brake-woman Pittman placed 14th at Königsee.^[39]

In the World Championships later that month in St Moritz the ageing equipment used by the Aussies became their greatest hurdle. Despite this, the team managed to record the 8th fastest time of all 22 sleds in the third of a 4 heat contest, a time that bettered that of 2 of the fancier German sleds.^{[citation needed]} Overall, the pair ranked 18th in the 2012-2013 World Cup.^[38]

In 2014, Loch-Wilkinson and brake-woman Pittman placed 20th in the World Cup race at Winterberg.^[5]

A public appeal was launched in Australia for sponsorships to buy a new sled and runners prior to the Sochi 2014 Games,^[40] which raised over $20,000 from individual small donors.^{[citation needed]} Loch-Wilkinson had announced a goal of $80,000 and used crowd-funding site sportaroo.com in her fundraising effort.^[38]

Loch-Wilkinson and brake-woman Pittman ultimately placed 14th at the 2014 Winter Olympics.^[41]

Loch-Wilkinson played as a striker for the University of Sydney.^[7] In September 2003, she played for the University of Sydney Women's Soccer Club Under 21 team, who lost to the University of New South Wales.^[42][43] She also played in the grand final of the 21 and over team, as many of the under 21 team filled in for injured players on the older team, who won their first NSW State League title.^[42][44] In 2004, she scored one of two goals in the University of Sydney team's shutout win against the Blacktown Districts,^[45] and the only goal in a shutout game against the Central Coast United.^[46]

She played for the Sunshine Coast Fire in its founding year, 2007.^[24] In 2009, Loch-Wilkinson was still a member of the women's team when they won a premiership.^[23] She was named women's player of the year in a ceremony on October 24, 2009.^[47]

In the youth track and field championships held in Perth 25-28 March 1999, Lock-Wilkinson competed in the under 18 women's 400 metres, finishing with a mark of 59.64.^[48]

Loch-Wilkinson competed in the 400 metres hurdles for the 1999-2000 Australia Junior track and field Australian Athletics Championships with a result of 62.31.^[6]

On 25 February 2000, she competed in the 4 × 100 metres relay with the New South Wales team Sydney Pacific, achieving a mark of 50.46.^[49]

After being encouraged by Australian bobsleigh coach Will Alstergren to increase her strength following the 2006 Winter Olympics,^[50] Loch-Wilkinson was named to the New South Wales weightlifting team for the national titles in September 2006.^[51] She won a bronze medal in the 69kg division.^[5][10]

In late 2010 Astrid married Vuk Rađenović, the Captain of Serbia's 2&4-man bob teams. After the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games, and 4 years of marriage, Vuk had an affair with German Bobsledder Stefanie Szczurek, ultimately resulting in their divorce.^{[citation needed]}

• Astrid Radjenovic at the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation
• Astrid Radjenovic at Olympics.com
• Astrid Radjenovic at Olympedia
• Astrid Radjenovic at the Australian Olympic Committee