Alex Coomber’s career in sport began in track and field athletics. She represented London and the South-East in the national schools indoor championship and both ran and played rugby at Oxford University.
Coomber joined the Royal Air Force after graduating and it was there she began sliding in 1997. An immediate success at the sport she won at her first attempt at the British Championships and would win a hat-trick of Skeleton World Cup titles in 2000, 2001 and 2002, the first whilst competing under her maiden name of Hamilton. She was one of the favourites for the inaugural women’s Olympic skeleton title but was hampered by a training crash and it was revealed after the final run that she had competed whilst suffering from a broken wrist. Coomber, who also won a silver medal at the 2001 World Championships, retired from competition after the Games and returned to pursue her career in the military.
Great Britain