By Neto Baptiste
Pan American and Commonwealth Games silver medallist, Priscilla Frederick Loomis, wants to become the first Antiguan to compete at a Winter Olympics.
The 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games hopeful, during a recent interview on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show, revealed she is already planning for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, where she hopes to represent the twin-island state in the mono bobsleigh.
“I actually am working on something new and it is very nerve-wracking, but I have spoken to Cliff Williams [General Secretary of the NOC] about it so I am actually thinking of it’s possible to train for a new event in the Winter Olympics, which is the mono bobsleigh … a one-woman bobsleigh. It’s a brand new event in the Winter Olympics so right now, I am working a little bit with Cliff and with other bobsleigh athletes to see if it’s possible,” she said.
Women’s mono bobsleigh is a single bobsleigh event that will be introduced at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.
Loomis, who announced that the now 2021 Olympic Games will be her last, hopes her drive will inspire others to consider their chances of qualifying for a Winter Olympics.
“Just getting the facilities, just learning how to drive [the sleigh] and all that so that is something that I am trying to do and that I am gearing up for because the Winter Olympics are in February of 2022. Antigua has never had a winter athlete so that’s what I am working on,” the athlete said.
“It’s a brand new event so I have to learn; there is a lot going into it like how much I weigh and just how crazy I am in general makes it seem like the perfect opportunity and if I can represent Antigua again and if there is a way for maybe, some other islander who want to try the Winter Olympics and I could get it all set up then I definitely will,” she added. The US-based athlete is yet to qualify for the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics which will now take place from July 23 to August 3.