Chemmy Alcott
Behind the engaging smile and charismatic personality, Chemmy Alcott is a fiercely determined and courageous sportswoman. Yes, she’s a gifted skier, but it’s taken far more than raw talent for Alcott to have reached the position where she’s more than competitive with the world’s elite skiers in the World Cup series.
Named after Sophia Loren’s character in the 1961 film El Cid, Chemmy started skiing aged 18 months while on a family trip to France, and skied in her first fun race at the age of three.
Chemmy's been the number one British woman skier for a record seven years, is Britain’s only female representative in the World Cup and is the highest ranked female British skier ever. Alcott’s enthusiasm for training and competition has won her a lot of admirers – particularly fellow skiers, who respect her dedication and sheer determination.
A measure of that determination was evident at the Turin Winter Olympics in 2006. For many years, Alcott had suffered from agonising bone spurs on her feet and had missed races and crucial training in the lead-up to the Games. So her 11th place in the downhill was an incredible feat of grit and determination. It was also the best result by a British female skier since the 1968 Games in Grenoble.
In April 2006, Alcott decided that the only long-term solution for her painful bone spurs was surgery. After a full six months away from skiing, Alcott returned to the competitive circuit in October and, skiing pain-free for the first time, blitzed her way to successive top 15 finishes in the downhill after just a couple of days training. Later in the year, she recorded her best-ever World Cup finish - seventh in the super-combined event.
Alcott started the 2008/09 season with her best ever finish, 10th place in the World Giant Slalom event in Soelden, Austria. Unfortunately the following week Chemmy broke her ankle. A quick recovery saw Chemmy perform with real promise at the 2009 World Championship finishing in 15th place in the Downhill event, her best result in this event to date.
Always willing to have a go at different sports and activities, including skydiving, Alcott has also reported for Sky News and other media channels, and she is an ambassador for Citizen’s national campaign. However, skiing continues to drive her ambitions - both as a racer and ambassador.
Chemmy is currently in Calgary preparing for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. She will be competing in all the Alpine events – Downhill, Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super-G and Super Combined – her first event is on Sunday 14 February. This will be Chemmy’s third Olympic Games and she will be hoping to better her 11th place in the 2006 Olympics in Turin
By the time she arrives in Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, Alcott will still only be 28 and at her peak. Watch her go.
www.chemmyalcott.com
For enquiries contact Octagon
Personal details
Born: 10 July 1982
Birthplace: Twickenham, UK
Honours and achievements
2009: Best ever World Championship finish: 15th place in Downhill
2008: 10th place in the World Giant Slalom event in Soelden, Austria
2007: The first British female skier to reach the World Cup finals
2006: Voted Snowsport GB Olympic Athlete of the Year
2006: 11th place in Winter Olympics Downhill event in Turin
2006: Best ever World Cup finish: 7th in the Super Combined
2004: First World Cup Downhill top 10 finish: 9th
Six-time British National Champion