Reigning skeleton world champion Shelley Rudman will not defend her title next year after announcing she is pregnant with her second child.
Rudman became the first British woman to win skeleton gold at the World Championships when she claimed victory in St Moritz, Switzerland in 2013.
The title added to the silver she won at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin – the only medal won by Great Britain at the Games – as well as the 2011/2012 World Cup crown.
The 33-year-old, who finished 16th at the Winter Olympics in Sochi earlier this year, had her first daughter Ella in October 2007 with 2008 world champion Kristan Bromley and the pair are expecting their second child in 2015.
“In the new year Kristan and I will be welcoming a new addition to our family! We are all super excited, and Ella is over the moon that she will become a big sister,” she wrote on her official website.
“This means that I will not be competing in the forthcoming competitive season and defending my World championship title, but instead looking forward to getting everything prepared and welcoming our new arrival into the world…which means lots of shopping for the new baby!!”
© Sportsbeat 2014