Less than six months after her first trip down a bobsleigh run Edinburgh's Gillian Cooke became World Champion.

With partner Nicola Minichiello 26 year old Gillian Cooke, a former Scottish Commonwealth Games pole vaulter and long jumper and an East of Scotland Institute of Sport supported athlete, beat America’s Shauna Rohbock and Elana Meyers by 0.38 seconds after the four runs at Lake Placid, New York.
 
Two days after the win Gillian was still struggling to come to terms with her incredible feat.
 
“I had absolutely no idea I could achieve this in four months,” she said.  “I knew that Nicola was a really good driver but our focus was always next year. 
 
“I always thought it would be great to come out of this year and start learning and then go to the Olympics next year.  But everything has happened much more quickly that anything we’d expected.
 
“It’s fantastic to get these results now and we’ll just have to take things forwards.”
 
Last autumn Minichiello placed an advert for a brake woman on a social networking site and Gillian applied.  The pair’s first race was by coincidence at the same venue as the World Championships in Lake Placid.
 
“It was very strange the first time I did it and I don’t think anyone can describe the feeling,” said Gillian.  “It’s nothing like I expected but I really enjoyed it right from the first run.
 
“The danger element doesn’t really bother me.  I have crashed a couple of times and walked away with a few bumps and bruises.  You just pick yourself up and go again.
 
“It was quite interesting comparing lake Placid, the first track I ever came down in October, with now.  Having experienced all the other tracks it was nothing like I remembered it. 
 
“I knew where I was this time and I was a bit more useful giving feedback on what was going on.” 
 
Last weekend the British pair set the fastest times in both the third and fourth runs to post an overall winning time of three minutes 48.22 seconds. They are the first British women to win the title, and Britain's first world champions in the sport since Tony Nash and Rob Dixon in 1965.
 
The also released Germany’s strangle hold on the event, the Germans having won the title for six of the last seven years.
 
Cook will spend another week in the US before returning home to begin a campaign which will hopefully take her to the medal rostrum in next February’s Winter Olympics in Vancouver. 
 
Starting bobsleigh straight after a summer season of long jumping meant she had to achieve two physical peaks close together in the year.  Understandably she has lost some physical conditioning in the process but now has a far better understanding of what needs to be done to improve when the season resumes in October.
 
“The physical training is quite similar to what I’d do in my summer athletics programme,” she said.  “Because I’ve peaked for an athletics season then gone into trying to peak for a bobsleigh season I’m fast and I’m strong but I’m starting to come out of being well conditioned. 
 
“It’s been so long since I’ve been able to fit in proper hard training but when I come back home I’ll start on physical conditioning work to get a base again.  I’ll train really hard right into the athletics season, with the focus of starting to compete again in November.
 
“I’ll be doing some push training over the summer and the plan is to meet up with Nicola every couple of weeks and train together.  I still have a lot to learn and I’m learning as I run but it has worked out really well and having the chance to refine things will make us even better next year.”  
 
Being back in Edinburgh will give Gillian the opportunity to discuss with her jumps coach, John Scott, how she can incorporate her athletics schedule into her Winter Olympic preparations. 
 
Surprisingly it was Scott and his wife, Ann, who looks after Gillian’s sprint training, that encouraged her to try the bobsleigh.
 
“It’s a good combination and they have been so supportive,” said Gillian.  “It was them that gave me the push to go and have a go at bobsleigh.  I wasn’t sure and they said ‘what have you got to lose’?  They said ‘have a shot and see if you like it’. It was really good of them because it might seem to some people from outside like they’d lost an athlete.”
 
Support also comes from the East of Scotland Institute of Sport.  Almost a founding member having been with ESIS for the past eight years, Gillian has access to expert teams working together to deliver essential support services locally in sports medicine, sports science, strength and conditioning, and career and lifestyle guidance.
 
“I’ve been with ESIS right from when it began for various different events and the support is fantastic,” she said.
 
“I do most of my training at Edinburgh University and ESIS has given me a pass to train there. They have given me a lot of physio and the psychology has been really invaluable.
 
“When I made the switch to bobsleigh they helped me keep an open mind because I had so much to take in during the past few months.
 
“And believing in me when other people have said ‘I don’t know if this is the right thing to do’, has made a massive difference.  They said right from the start they would continue to support me.  It’s fantastic to have that kind of reassurance and support right behind you.”