MICA McNEILL was celebrating the best result of her career yesterday morning as she claimed her first World Cup medal in Latvia.

The Consett bobsleigh star teamed up with Adele Nicoll to claim a silver medal in the World Cup event at Sigulda, Latvia, with the result providing a massive boost to the pair’s hopes of qualifying for next month’s Winter Olympics in Beijing.

McNeill was forced to crowd-fund her way to the last Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, eventually finishing in eighth position.

A former Junior World champion and Youth Olympics silver medallist, the North-Easterner, who first took up bobsleigh on the dry track at Camp Hill in North Yorkshire, is back being supported by the British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association as she looks to book her place in Beijing.

Her weekend performance in Latvia will see her shoot up the Olympic qualifying rankings, with her second-place finish securing Britain’s first medal in women’s World Cup bobsleigh since Nicola Minichiello and Gillian Cooke won a bronze in St Moritz in 2009.

“It’s an absolutely brilliant way to start the New Year, with our first-ever World Cup podium finish,” said McNeill, who pilots the two-woman bob. “We’re still on the journey to qualifying for the Olympic Games, but we’re feeling optimistic heading into next week’s race. We’re so thankful to our team and to our sponsors, DHL, for everything they do to support us.”

McNeill’s previous best World Cup performance was a fourth-place finish alongside Montell Douglas in Altenberg in January 2019 and at Igls in December 2020.

Her success in Latvia was especially notable as it came in only her third race with Nicoll, a 25-year-old who combines bobsleigh with shot put, where she has qualified to represent Wales at this summer’s Commonwealth Games.

The pair had never previously raced at Sigulda, but they clocked a combined time of 1:42.10 to finish inside the medal spots by 18 hundredths of a second.

They sat third at the halfway stage of the competition, and guaranteed themselves a medal when they produced another strong slide in their second run.

Russian race leader Nadezhda Sergeeva suffered a crash as she chased gold, elevating McNeill and Nicoll into a guaranteed top-two spot, and while American Elana Meyers-Taylor beat their time to claim the title, the British pair were delighted with their silver medal.

“I’m so happy with today’s results,” added Nicoll. “This was only my second time racing on the World Cup stage. Second race, second place!

“I’ve had such an incredible journey with team DHL McNeill so far, and I’m excited for what’s to come and our mission to get to the Olympic Games.”

McNeill and Nicoll now move to Winterberg in Germany for the seventh leg of the World Cup series, which takes place next weekend.

The circuit concludes in the Swiss resort of St Moritz on the weekend of January 14-16, with the final World Cup standings playing a major role in determining the make-up of the field for the Winter Olympics, which begin in China on February 20.

* Keep up to date with Mica McNeill’s progress by following @the_bbsa on Twitter or British Bobsleigh and Skeleton on Facebook and Instagram. Pictures from this weekend’s event can be viewed at @rekords on Instagram.