Natalie Dunman named Interim Skeleton PD
The British Bobsleigh & Skeleton Association is pleased to announce that Natalie Dunman is the new Interim Performance Director for the British Skeleton World Class Performance Programme (WCPP).
Dunman joins the BBSA with immediate effect for a period of up to 12 months on a secondment from her role as UK Sport Head of Performance Pathways.
Formerly Lead Talent Scientist at the English Institute of Sport, Dunman’s role with UK Sport has seen her tasked with supporting sports to build world leading pathway programmes, as well as developing cutting edge initiatives in athlete development and progression, to ensure the country’s continued success at future Olympic and Paralympic Games.
She joins the BBSA to take over from Andi Schmid, who stepped down as British Skeleton’s Performance Director this summer after 17 years with the team.
“We are delighted to be able to name Natalie as our Interim Performance Director for British Skeleton,” said BBSA Chairman, Christopher Rodrigues.
“Natalie was an exceptional candidate for the role and I am sure she will be an asset to the team.
The British Skeleton WCPP has been hugely successful since the sport’s re-introduction to the Olympic Winter Games in 2002 and we believe Natalie is the right person to drive the team forward in their quest to continue that success.
“We look forward to welcoming Natalie to Bath and we thank UK Sport for facilitating Natalie’s secondment.
“We also welcome today’s confirmation from UK Sport that the BBSA will be the award recipient for the Skeleton World Class Performance Programme for the Beijing cycle. We now look forward to working with UK Sport to ensure that the remarkable success of the team continues all the way to the 2022 Games in China.”
“I’m very excited to be joining the BBSA and the British Skeleton programme,” said Dunman, who will be meeting the athletes, coaches and support staff in the coming days.
I watched the team do so well in PyeongChang in February and I know they are a special group of people, both on and off the ice.
“I’ve worked with the Skeleton programme at various times during the last 10 years - including designing and delivering the talent identification programme that discovered Lizzy Yarnold and Laura Deas - and I feel privileged to be working with and supporting such a great team of athletes, coaches and staff.
“They have a track record of medals at all levels and my aim now is to help them continue on that successful path towards the Beijing 2022 Games.”
“We are pleased that the British Bobsleigh & Skeleton Association has accepted in full the conditions of award for the Skeleton World Class Programme,” added UK Sport CEO, Liz Nicholl.
“We have been working closely with the BBSA to confirm our Beijing 2022 investment and I would like to thank the skeleton athletes, coaches and staff for their patience and professionalism during this process.
“Our skeleton athletes have achieved unparalleled success on the world stage; winning medals at the last five Olympic Games including three podium places at PyeongChang 2018 through Lizzy Yarnold, Laura Deas and Dom Parsons.
“The sport can now set out on its journey to the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games with the support of UK Sport and The National Lottery and with genuine confidence and belief that medal winning success can be achieved again.”
