Amy Williams

Amy Williams was born in Cambridge in 1982 and raised in Bath. She began her sporting career as a 400m runner, aspiring to represent her country. In 2002, at the age of 19, while a student at the University of Bath, Williams first encountered skeleton racing. This proved to be a pivotal moment; despite describing the initial experience as both exhilarating and terrifying, she quickly embraced the sport and joined the British skeleton development program. Her dedication led to rapid progress in a sport where athletes hurtle head-first down a frozen track at speeds over 140 km/h, securing her second place finishes in both the World Student Games and World Junior Championships in 2005.

Williams initially faced a challenge qualifying for the 2006 Winter Olympics, as only one Great Britain athlete could compete in skeleton that year. However, she remained focused, dedicating the subsequent four years to training for the 2010 Vancouver Games. Her relentless pursuit of excellence culminated in a historic performance at the Whistler Sliding Centre. Over two days, she won the gold medal, setting new track records in her first and third runs, comfortably outpacing her German competitors. This victory marked her as Great Britain’s first individual gold medalist at the Winter Games in 30 years and the first female individual gold medalist in 58 years. In recognition of her achievement, Williams was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list and became an Honorary Freeman of the City of Bath in 2010.

Following her Olympic triumph and a silver medal at the 2009 World Championships, Williams became an ambassador for the British Olympic Association and carried the Olympic torch in the lead-up to the London 2012 Olympics. She announced her retirement from skeleton in May 2012, citing injuries. Post-retirement, Williams has remained active in sports and media. She co-presented the 35th series of BBC Two’s ‘Ski Sunday’ in January 2013 and later joined Channel 5’s ‘The Gadget Show’ in 2014, leaving in 2017 to care for her child. She also took on a role as a BBC Sport commentator for ice sports and became an ambassador for the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust in 2019 and the University of Bath’s youth sports program in 2023.