By Owen Morgan

Welsh athlete Mica Moore’s dream of competing at the Winter Olympics is under threat due to a funding row. 

However, she is hoping that the Great British public will help her put her ambitions back on track. 

The Birchfield Harriers and Cardiff Met University sprinter is in pole position to act as the brake women for British bobsleigh driver Mica McNeill at next year’s Winter Olympics in Pyeonchang. 

 But McNeill, who has already achieved the British qualification standard for the Olympics, has been told this week that the national bobsleigh federation only has enough funding to take the  men’s teams to South Korea. 

 As a result, the County Durham driver has turned to the public in a bid to raise the £30,000 she needs to fund a season’s training and competition for her and a brake woman to ensure they can go to the Olympics and be competitive. 

 Moore, from Newport, says: “We need to pay for our flights, accommodation, food and use of the sliding facilities and tracks, so that’s why we need the £30,000 to get on season and make sure we give ourselves the best chance of getting a medal at the Olympic Games.” 

A gofundme page has been set up to receive donations. As a result over £11,000 was raised in the first 24-hours. 

 Moore says the public’s response has been a huge boost following the disappointment of the funding announcement. 

 “It’s a massive frustration at the minute. But we are still focussed on the Olympic Games and we’ve got to make sure that we try and get there. 

“In the last 24 hours we have already raised over £11,000 of that £30,000. We are so grateful to anyone who has supported, donated, spread the word or even just given kind words of encouragement, we are so grateful to them all. 

“We need people to know that we still need their support and we still need them to spread the word. If there are any benefactors out there, or other people who would like to help or support us, we need their help and we would be appreciative if they would come forward.” 

Moore, who represented Wales in the 100m relay at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, was hoping to complete an ambitious double next year by representing Great Britain in the bobsleigh at the Olympics in February and Wales at the Commonwealths in Australia just a few weeks later in April. 

Unfortunately, it looks like the Commonwealths will be beyond her grasp, having failed to achieve the required qualifying time. 

That setback only goes to make the funding decision by the British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association all the more frustrating for Moore. 

She says: “I haven’t achieved the Commonwealth standard yet and I don’t think I will be able to now because I have run out of competitions to achieve the standard. 

“To take a positive from that it means that I can just put all my focus into bobsleigh now and trying to get to the Olympics . . . if we can get the funding. 

“We had our push test trials on Monday and it went really well. I was able to come first, so at the moment I am the number one brake woman for team GB.

“So if we were able to raise the money I would be able to go on season with Mica as one of her brake women. 

“Raising the money would help me personally because I would be able to get on the ice with Mica, push with Mica and improve my skills and improve my technique on ice. 

“Obviously, living in Britain we don’t have a lot of ice and cold here. We get the cold but not the snow, so we have to go away on season to practice on ice. Any funding we get to do that would definitely help.  

“We would be looking to go onto the World Cup series which starts in North America. We go to three different places over there – Whistler, Lake Placid and Park City.  

“Then we would have to come back to Europe where there would be a few World Cup races before Christmas. So the money raised would go to travelling to those World Cup races and making sure that by going and competing in those events, we’re improving our chances of improving our rankings and our start position at the Olympics. 

“Mica has already qualified herself in terms of the British Olympic standard. That’s why this is so devastating because she deserves to be there and two brake women deserve to be there with her. 

“For myself, at the moment I am sitting in number one brake woman position. I need to be on ice to make sure I keep on excelling and keep on improving and ultimately that will help me to achieve my goal of getting to the Olympic Games by keeping my spot in the top two brake women.” 

Moore and McNeil have already proved their potential as a pairing. In January this year they won gold together at the World Junior Championships in Winterberg, Germany. They have also competed at the Senior World Championships in Innsbruck. 

Despite the withdrawal of funding by the BBSA, Moore is still hopeful she will achieve her dream of teaming up with McNeill, who has even bought her own bobsleigh. 

She adds: “My dad put it perfectly, you can never underestimate the Great British public to back their own. The support we’ve already had is overwhelming and I hope we can just keep having that support.

“We would appreciate any kind of backing, not just donations. We understand that not everyone can donate, we are really happy that people have shared our story and just given kind words. It’s so nice to know that people support you. Any kind of support we’re grateful for.” 

If you want to help fund Team McNeill, you can go to the gofundme page, or contact the girls via twitter accounts @MicaMcNeill and @mica_lolita