Photo: Twitter / The Royal Family
What’s a bobsleigh pilot / athlete to do for training when there’s a lockdown in home country UK and all gyms are closed? Pushing a car up the hill could be a decent workout replacement, it turns out.
If you think the idea is funny, don’t worry, you’re not the only one. The Queen herself is so amused by it that she actually let out a giggle during a recent videocall from Windsor Castle. And One never giggles, as you must know.
Queen Elizabeth II spoke to several Armed Forces members in bases around the world, to see how they’d been holding up during lockdown. During a conversation with RAF gunner Lance Corporal Shanwayne Stephens, it emerged that he’s also the sled pilot for the Jamaican bobsleigh team (yes, Jamaica has one of those) and that he’s been training for the 2022 Olympics.
This prompted the Queen to ask him how he’d been training in lockdown, which is when Stephens revealed he’d been pushing his girlfriend’s MINI uphill on the narrow streets of hometown Peterborough, England – an “unorthodox” method of training but an efficient one. The Queen let out an “Oh!” and a giggle, before adding, “Well, I suppose that’s one way to train!”
As funny as this story seems, it’s not the first time it makes headlines. At the end of last month, the story caught the eye of MINI UK, and Stephens and team member / brakeman Nimroy Turgott received a brand new MINI Convertible Cooper in the Jamaican flag colors, which they could continue using to train or actually drive, if they felt like it.
The idea for using a car to train makes sense, if you know anything about training for this particular sport. Bobsleigh athletes use something known as the prowler, which is a piece of equipment that resembles a sled but has weights attached to the sides, which they have to push on concrete, in order to get maximum resistance.
Queen Elizabeth II spoke to several Armed Forces members in bases around the world, to see how they’d been holding up during lockdown. During a conversation with RAF gunner Lance Corporal Shanwayne Stephens, it emerged that he’s also the sled pilot for the Jamaican bobsleigh team (yes, Jamaica has one of those) and that he’s been training for the 2022 Olympics.
This prompted the Queen to ask him how he’d been training in lockdown, which is when Stephens revealed he’d been pushing his girlfriend’s MINI uphill on the narrow streets of hometown Peterborough, England – an “unorthodox” method of training but an efficient one. The Queen let out an “Oh!” and a giggle, before adding, “Well, I suppose that’s one way to train!”
As funny as this story seems, it’s not the first time it makes headlines. At the end of last month, the story caught the eye of MINI UK, and Stephens and team member / brakeman Nimroy Turgott received a brand new MINI Convertible Cooper in the Jamaican flag colors, which they could continue using to train or actually drive, if they felt like it.
The idea for using a car to train makes sense, if you know anything about training for this particular sport. Bobsleigh athletes use something known as the prowler, which is a piece of equipment that resembles a sled but has weights attached to the sides, which they have to push on concrete, in order to get maximum resistance.
The Queen recently spoke to service personnel from @BritishArmy, @RoyalNavy and @RoyalAirForce via video call, to hear about the work of the British Armed Forces at home and overseas. pic.twitter.com/a5qaQ3dZga
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) July 14, 2020
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