Nicholas David Phipps (8 April 1952 – 24 April 2024) was a British

bobsled Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of 2 to 4 athletes make timed speed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobs ...

der and athlete who competed from 1980 to 1992. He competed at two

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

Biography

Phipps was born in

New Haw New Haw is a village which is part of the Runnymede (borough), Borough of Runnymede in Surrey, England. It is located approximately south of Addlestone and boxing the compass, southwest by west of London. Geography New Haw borders Byfleet, Ad ...

, Surrey, England and started his sporting career as an athlete participating in the decathlon. He finished third behind Barry King in the decathlon event at the 1972 AAA Championships, improving to second place behind David Kidner one year later at the

1973 AAA Championships The 1973 AAA Championships was the 1973 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held from 13 to 14 July 1973 at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, Engla ...

. Phipps remained one of Britain's leading decathletes and helped them win a four nations tournament in Copenhagen during June 1976. A team that included Mike Corden and a 17 year old

Daley Thompson Francis Morgan Ayodélé Thompson, (born 30 July 1958) is an English former decathlete. He won the decathlon gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984, and broke the world record for the event four times. He was unbeaten in competit ...

. He also finished runner-up behind Pan Zeniou at the 1977 AAA Championships. Phipps left athletics to take up the bobsleigh and competed at the

1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Lake Placid was elected ...

. He finished third in the

Bobsleigh World Cup The Bobsleigh World Cup is an annual bobsleigh competitions. It has taken place since the 1984 Winter Olympics The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games (Serbo-Croatian language, Serbo-Croatian and Slovene lan ...

combined men's event in 1985-86. Competing in a second Winter Olympics, Phipps earned his best finish of 13th both in the two-man and four-man events at

Albertville Albertville (; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile'') is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It is best k ...

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

. Phipps later became a coach of the pole vault and was a member of the pole vault steering group for England Athletics. Phipps died on 24 April 2024, at the age of 72.

References

External links

1980 bobsleigh four-man results

British Olympic Association profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phipps, Nick 1952 births 2024 deaths Bobsledders at the 1980 Winter Olympics Bobsledders at the 1992 Winter Olympics British male bobsledders Olympic bobsledders for Great Britain