Robert Wright "Rob" Mitchell (9 June 1972 – 27 August 2022) was a British

short track speed skater Short-track speed skating is a form of competitive ice skating, ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters (typically between four and six) skate on an oval ice track with a length of . The rink itself is long by wide, which is the s ...

. He competed in the men's 5000 metre relay event at the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events ...

. Mitchell had a distinguished career as a speed skater, achieving success at the junior, senior, and masters levels. He first took an interest in the sport at the age of seven after watching leading racers taking part in an event in Scotland and subsequently joined the Peterborough Ice Racing Club at the age of 13. In 1986 he won the East of England Junior Championship and retained the title the following year. In 1988, at the age of 15, he won an international event at Den Haag in the Netherlands. Mitchell’s brother Graeme was also a competitive speed skater and member of the Peterborough club. The siblings competed against each other at the 1986 British Championships. While studying as a medical student at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

, Mitchell joined the Mohawks Ice Racing Club in Solihull and became part of the Great Britain squad in 1993. Two years later he was part of the successful 5,000 metres relay squad that won three European titles and set a 5,000 metre world record of 7:09.54 in 1996. Accompanying Mitchell that day were Nicky Gooch, Matt Jasper, and Wilf O’Reilly. Between 1996 and 1998, Mitchell took a two-year sabbatical from university to concentrate on speed skating with the hope of joining the

Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. ...

Olympic squad. Ultimately his dedication paid off and he represented Great Britain at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, finishing 7th with the GB relay squad. The following September, Mitchell returned to university to complete the final three years of his studying and eventually qualified as a doctor. Mitchell continued speed skating and enjoyed success in Masters events. In 2017 he won the World Masters outdoor long track title, the British Masters, and also the 500m and 5000m titles at the Dutch Masters. He subsequently retained his British title in 2018. Mitchell’s last competition was at Heerenveen, Netherlands in March 2020 at age of 48.

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* * * 1972 births 2022 deaths British male short-track speed skaters Olympic short-track speed skaters for Great Britain Short-track speed skaters at the 1998 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Portsmouth {{UK-speed-skating-bio-stub