Double Olympic bobsleigh pilot Mica McNeill, who defied a funding cut to secure a best-ever British women’s bobsleigh finish of eighth place in Pyeongchang in 2018, has announced her retirement from the sport.
McNeill has not returned to the sport since a disappointing performance in Beijing last year and said she had reached her decision with “no regrets” as she focuses on launching a new career as an athlete agent.
McNeill launched a crowdfunding campaign from a garage in Consett in her native County Durham to fund her bid to reach Pyeongchang after the women’s programme had its funding controversially cut one year out from the Games.
Along with team-mate Adele Nicoll, McNeill also achieved a second place finish in a World Cup event in Sigulda, Latvia, in January 2022, the first time British women had stood on a World Cup podium in 13 years.
McNeill told the PA news agency: “I’ve been doing this sport for 13 years and, after taking some time to reflect, I realised that while I could have done another Olympic cycle, it is time to start another journey.
“It was a difficult decision because the nature of every athlete is that you think you can go on for ever. I find it very hard to watch races but I have had to fight my inner athlete and rein myself in.”
McNeill’s career in the sport coincided with a period of unprecedented turmoil within the domestic governing body, which had its funding significantly cut in 2017 due to allegations of bullying, racism, sexism and discrimination within the sport.
Launching her GoFundMe campaign in direct response, McNeill accused the British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association of “mismanagement”, but now believes the fight she put up to preserve her Olympic dream can pave the way for others to succeed.
McNeill’s retirement announcement comes less than a week after her former team-mates’ unprecedented success in the first post-Beijing season prompted funding body UK Sport to announce an £850,000 funding boost for the bobsleigh programme.
“I was involved in some of the hardest battles for British bobsleigh so it’s tough to see the funding arriving now, but obviously it’s also nice to see because the sport is in a much better place,” added McNeill.
“It will be a case of looking back and thinking what if, but I have no regrets or negative feelings.
I do think what we went through as a women's programme helped shape the new federation and the sport in general to make sure we don't make the same mistakes again, and I think we have left it with a clearer path— Mica McNeill
“I feel like while the battles I went through definitely affected my performance, I learned so much both within the sport and in life lessons that I wouldn’t have got if it wasn’t for those tough times.
“I do think what we went through as a women’s programme helped shape the new federation and the sport in general to make sure we don’t make the same mistakes again, and I think we have left it with a clearer path.”
McNeill is set to launch her own company, The Athletes’ Agency, before the end of this month and has every intention of being trackside at the 2026 Winter Games in Italy, either in her new role or within the coaching set-up.
“I have a huge passion for bobsleigh so it’s not something I could ever walk away from,” she added.
“I would love to help other bobsleigh athletes to achieve and even if that means being stood on the sidelines watching the sleds coming round the bend, that’s going to make me happy.”
