Powered by bespoke equipment and expertise provided by Sheffield -based Bromley Technologies Ltd, Brothers Richard and Kristan Bromley will be coaching their respective teams in the Skeleton Bobsleigh Event in Pyeongchang.
Kristan (Head Coach) of the Nederland’s team and Head Technical coach of Norway, will look to challenge the Women’s discipline with Athlete Kim Boss. Kristan coached Kim to the Nederland’s first ever sliding Skeleton medal with a strong Bronze medal in last season’s final World Cup race in Pyeongchang. A result that Kristan will surely be hoping to replicate in the upcoming Olympic races.
Richard (Head Coach) of the home Nation will look to claim South Korea’s first sliding sport Olympic medal with athlete Sungbin Yun, who has emerged as one of the favourites in the Men’s discipline.
Richard, brother of 4 x Olympian and world champion Kristan Bromley and brother-in-law of 2006 silver medallist Shelley Rudman, was appointed head World Cup coach of the South Korean squad in 2014.
Bromley’s impact has been dramatic, with Sungbin Yun now dominating this year’s world standings with five gold medals and 2 silver medals from seven World Cup races, making him the Overall world cup Champion and an unlikely hero in his homeland whose 26 previous Winter Olympic gold medals have been entirely confined to short-track and figure skating. Since taking charge, the South Korean Skeleton team have racked up an astonishing 23 World cup medals.
Bromley said “After the 2014 Sochi Olympics had finished, Kristan and fiancée Shelley Rudman were due to retire from competitive racing so I was open to working with any Nation or Athlete. Initially I started working with Canadian Slider Elisabeth Vathje, and during the 2014 / 2015 Calgary World Cup race I was asked if I could help Coach the Korean team. Sungbin captured Bronze medal in that race (South Korea’s first ever medal within the Skeleton and Bobsleigh sports). Elisabeth Vathje took Gold on home ice. It was a fantastic day that really set the wheels in motion for the next 4 years”
“Sungbin followed up with a Silver medal in St Moritz – Switzerland and the South Koreans presented me with an offer to make me their head World Cup coach all the way through to the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.”
Richard said about Korean Athlete Sungbin Yun – “Sungbin had only been sliding for two years before Sochi 2014 Olympics, but there was something about him. He had a raw and powerful start, but more importantly he could really drive the sled. You don’t often see diamonds like him who really understand the Physics of the sport and have such a good feeling on the ice”
“We started working together and quickly formed a tight relationship where he gave me his trust to develop the fastest sled in the world at the Bromley Technologies premises, based on his abilities. Over the last 3 years we have worked tirelessly to do just that”
Utilising all his knowledge from working closely with Kristan and Shelley over the last 12 years, Richard set about designing a bespoke technology and coaching programme that would peak in time for the 2018 Olympic games.
Richard has total respect for Brother Kristan, “Everything I learned in the sport of Skeleton, I have learned from working with Kristan”
“His vision, understanding and thinking in the sport is unparalleled, together with a constant finger on the pulse of the latest technologies – he is probably the best all round Coach / Performance Director in the World.”
However, post Sochi with Kristan taking time away from 20 continual competitive years in the sport, Richard was presented with the opportunity to work with the Home Nation to develop and implement a technical / coaching programme based on his own thinking, focussed predominantly on the Structural Dynamics of the Sled…..A challenge he would relish.
Richard was the technical coach working with brother Kristan since 2002 and helped him rise to the summit of his sport, culminating in him becoming the first skeleton athlete in the history of the sport to capture the coveted triple crown – the World Cup overall, World Championship and European Championship titles in the same season in 2008.
Together, in 2000 they established Bromley Technologies – a high performance engineering company focussing on Athlete engineered technologies. Bromley Technologies currently based on the AMP Technology Park, Catcliffe manufactures and supply’s equipment to over 20 countries world-wide including GB’s current British men’s number one Dom Parsons.
Bromley Technologies Ltd has designed and manufactured nearly 50% of the equipment being used in the Olympic Races. Bromley Technologies Ltd utilises their in-house capabilities of CNC machining, Visi CAD, Laser Scanning, CFD, Ansys and National Instruments to deliver the World’s fastest sports equipment. Bromley Technologies has also worked with multiple Olympic sports developing Athlete focussed equipment.
Bromley’s success with the Korean team comes at a time when pressure is growing on the GB programme following a disappointing World Cup campaign from reigning Olympic champion Lizzy Yarnold.
This week, UK Sport reduced its expectations for a return on the sport’s £6.5million funding to merely a “top eight” finish, although another British racer, Laura Deas, is currently ranked fifth in the World Cup standings.
Asked if he would consider working with the GB team again, Bromley said, “both myself and Kristan are very patriotic and Bromley Technologies door is always open for discussions about the future.”
Asked about the current results of the GB squad, Richard said, “I’m a little surprised with the results of the GB programme so far this season but I’m sure they will be able to turn things around. All the GB Skeleton Athletes are strong competitors and I would be very surprised if they were not fighting for medals”
“As for the future, we will see what happens after the 2018 Olympics, but I do love working for the South Korean Team.”
The Olympic Skeleton Races are scheduled for the 15th – 17th February.
Shelley Rudman will be commentating on all the races on Eurosport
Men’s Race 1: 15th Feb 01:00 GMT
Men’s Race 2: 16th Feb 00:30 GMT
Women’s Race 1: 16th Feb 11:20 GMT
Women’s Race 2: 17th Feb 11:20 GMT