Adele Nicoll to compete in Winter Olympics and Commonwealth Games in same year at Milano Cortina 2026; historic double across two events

Commonwealth Games 2026 via Milano Cortina: Adele Nicoll on making British history: “Perseverance and resilience alone have got me here”

Britain’s first athlete to compete in both the Winter Olympics and Commonwealth Games in the same year, Adele Nicoll reflects on the journey from rural Wales via bobsleighing and shot put ahead of Wednesday’s (29 July) final.

Four months on from the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, Adele Nicoll has switched sports with the seasons for Glasgow 2026.

12 years ago, Nicoll watched Glasgow 2014 from the stands with her mum; she had been on the Team Wales preparation camp list, but not in the final list of athletes.

Eight years on, she made her Commonwealth Games debut in the shot put in Birmingham 2022. The intervening years, though, have been unlike those of any other athlete.

Four months ago, she put on the skin-tight suit of Team GB and slid down the tracks of Milano Cortina’s bobsleigh circuit .

On Wednesday evening (29 July), when she throws in the shot put in the bright red vest of Wales, she will become the first British woman to compete in both the Winter Olympics and the Commonwealth Games in the same year .

Adelé Nicoll on her transition from shot put to bobsleigh and Milano Cortina 2026 goals: “I’m good at accelerating objects”

Adele Nicoll: “Even Olympians are still learning”

Welshpool is a slow-paced market town in the rural and mountainous surroundings of mid-Wales. It has a population of less than 7,000; everyone knows everyone.

Welshpool’s athletics club was only formed in 2022, founded by native Nicoll herself. When she first began competing as a child, she represented Oswestry Olympians, travelling to meets locally and over the border to the north-east of England.

“ Growing up in mid-Wales, you’re almost born into small expectations because there’s a small radius of the town ,” Nicoll told Olympics.com on the eve of the Commonwealth Games shot put final. “But my parents were always encouraging me to see outside, to know there were lots of opportunities if I wanted to work hard enough.

“It was really like a snowball effect. I think from a very young age, I knew this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”

Nicoll credits this background to the variance of her career that followed.

Going from her favoured shot put event as a teenager, to being informally scouted by Team GB two-time Olympian bobsledder Mica McNeill , it was a sport which Nicoll threw herself wholeheartedly into.

The similarities are a matter of power, and the transfer of it. As she told Olympics.com last year, she’s “good at accelerating objects.”

A formidable presence of mind and body, the acceleration of Nicoll’s career since her Birmingham debut in 2022 has been a whirlwind.

On the road to the Winter Olympics and training to become the first monobob Olympian in British history in 2026, Nicoll earned a master’s degree in psychology, worked as a waitress, barmaid, receptionist, finance administrator, and a lifeguard.

Before 2022, she worked in psychiatric secure units, training within lunch breaks or either side of an hour-long commute to the hospital.

When she decided to retrain as a pilot of the bobsleigh event in 2022, she still managed to streamline the usual eight-year process to world-class level to two years.

“That’s why I say to people, don’t have too much pride,” she said. “We all want to be professional athletes, but my upbringing made me realise you’re not owed anything.

“Every single time I do something, it’s because I want to do it to the best of my ability, and I want to win. I love a challenge, which is obviously why I’ve ended up in the situation I am now with two sports.

“But the way I’ve managed my emotions over time is also ‘I’m okay if I don’t win’, because life goes on and I’ve got another opportunity coming.

“The Winter Games taught me that even Olympians are still learning. It was challenging emotionally, but it also really accelerated a learning curve for me. Some of it was really tough, but some of it will be the best moments of my life .”

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, ITALY - FEBRUARY 16: Adele Nicoll of Team Great Britain celebrates after competing in the Women’s Monobob Bobsleigh Heat 3 on day ten of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Cortina Sliding Centre on February 16, 2026 in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. (Photo by Al Bello

After Milano Cortina, it was seven months since she picked up a shot put .

“I had maybe three weeks off just to have a mental break,” she explained. “And then I started training again in April. Qualification for the Commonwealth Games closed in May.

“I went to my training camp and said to my friend, ‘I need to qualify for the Commonwealth Games in about two weeks.’ And she was like, ‘cool .’”

Despite the tight and pressured turnaround, Nicoll had won British titles in 2022, 2024, and 2025, putting her in good stead for results upon her return. Within those two weeks, a B standard qualifying throw in Oklahoma and an even better throw in the Loughborough International meet secured the call-up.

Speaking to Olympics.com on the eve of her shot put event in Glasgow, just before she goes off to spend time with her parents, reflecting on her place in the Glaswegian stands 12 years ago comes naturally.

“I just think, wow, perseverance and resilience alone have got me here,” she said. “The amount of trials and tribulations you face as an athlete, it really tests you and literally only the mentally tough get through it.

“I am just at a point in my life where I am embracing every opportunity in every moment because I think I’ve realised how long I have actually been doing sport now. I turn 30 this year, and it’s a reflective moment. I’m excited, but it means I’m entering a new phase of my life in sports.

“And I do feel like I’m genuinely entering my prime years, which is crazy because I’ve done a lot. Who really expects you to know everything at 18? It’s taken me a decade to figure out what I want, and who I am as an athlete.”

BATH, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 18: Adele Nicoll and Kya Placide of Great Britain listen to Bruce Tasker, Start Performance coach on November 10, 2025 in Bath, England. The XXV Winter Olympic Games will take place in Milano Cortina in February 2026. (Photo by Alex Pantling

Adele Nicoll on psychology, charity, and identity: “Where you grow up doesn’t mean you can’t achieve certain things”

Meanwhile, Nicoll has found time to become a non-executive director for high performance at Welsh Golf, to star in a short film, set up Welshpool’s first athletics academy, continue her academic passions, and connect her hometown with regenerative charities.

“A lot of the situations and side quests that I found myself in have happened really organically and that is just the best thing ever for me,” she said.

“I’ve never put all of my identity into sport. Again, I think it comes from growing up in an area where you realise these things can be taken away. They are a privilege.”

In September, Nicoll returns to Glasgow on a different mission. Rather than competing, she will be working with the Feathers’ Association, a charity working with deprived communities. She became an ambassador after they visited Welshpool.

“To be able to work in the communities that are really similar to where I grew up means a lot,” she said. “I get to go back and say ‘hey, you guys can be whatever you want to be. Where you grow up doesn’t mean you can’t achieve certain things.’”

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JULY 09: Adele Nicoll of Birchfield competes during the Women’s Shot Put during Day Two of the UK Athletics Championships at Manchester Regional Arena on July 09, 2023 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Matt McNulty

Adele Nicoll and Team Wales: “We’re making our communities proud”

The locality of her work, working directly with young people in Welshpool, is no coincidence. If there was any hint of a secret behind the relentlessness and humility of Nicoll, she would recognise the place she was raised in many of her ways.

“I wouldn’t change anything about where I grew up or how I grew up. I would not want to represent any other country in the world,” she said proudly.

“I actually think it’s become my strength because it’s made me work so hard to be where I am and never take anything for granted. I’ve never felt entitled to anything. I’ve just always understood that you have to work for something if you want it .”

At the Commonwealth Games, Welsh athletes have the rare opportunity to represent their home nation on a major international stage. For Nicoll, it is a proudly unique experience.

“ Team Wales is just a community that you couldn’t describe to anybody that hasn’t ever experienced being Welsh or been around Welsh people ,” she explains.

“It’s interesting because you go down to lunch and we’re all trying to cram around one table. It really does become our strength.

“When we go out into the field of play, we know that we’re stepping out there wearing that vest and not only are we making our families proud, our communities, our hometowns, our nation proud, but our teammates are at the hotel watching on their TVs.

“It’s been great to watch, whatever sport they’re in. Even the gymnastics girls, I’ve never met any of them, but I’ve been watching every single thing they’ve done!” She smiles.

In artistic gymnastics, Wales secured three individual medals, including Ruby Evans’ first gold for the country. In the swimming relays, Welshpool connection Dan Jones has come away with two bronze medals.

“Dan and I went to high school together!” Adele laughs. “We used to go swimming in the mornings before school sometimes. For him to be winning medals at a Commonwealth Games is just insane. It’s so inspirational; not just to kids, but to me. I’m seeing that.”

23 July - 2 August

Commonwealth Games 2026 | Glasgow | United Kingdom