ACCORDING to her father, Jennifer Sealey's chosen sport should come with a don't try this at home label.

It's a label that Shelley Rudman chose to ignore as she followed fellow Wiltshire slider Alex Coomber down the ice to become Britain's second Winter Olympic bob skeleton medalist.

Rudman's sensational second run in Turin earned the Pewsey woman a silver medal and a place in the heart of every sports fan in the country. Now Frome College student Jennifer, from Standerwick, is hoping to become Britain's next ice queen when the Winter Olympic circus reaches Vancouver in four years' time.

At 17, Sealey is the youngest member of the Great Britain bob skeleton development squad. The Somerset women's 200m sprint champion was spotted by coaches at a talent identification day on the push track at Bath University.

Jennifer said: "I was invited to attend a residential course at the university with my athletics development squad. We had a go on the push track and I really enjoyed going face first down the hill. "At the talent identification day we had to run sprints over 15, 30 and 45 metres. I was only 15-years-old but I was reaching the recommended times for the 25-year-old women."

Jennifer was invited to attend a formal interview with Great Britain performance director Simon Timson, where she discussed her potential as a bob skeleton slider. "Simon asked if I had enjoyed the practice runs and was keen to know if I was going to carry on with my A-levels," she said.

"I got a letter in June 2005 saying I had been accepted into the GB squad. It was all very exciting. "I had heard about Alex Coomber winning the bronze medal in Salt Lake City in 2002, but I never really took much notice of the sport before that."

Jennifer's only on-ice experience to date has been carved out at the world famous Igls track in Innsbrook, Austria. "I was given the week off school in November to train with four other members of the GB squad. We were given a map of the track two nights before our first run so we could study all the corners.

"Before the run we taped parts of a cut-up camping mat to our shoulders, elbows and hips to cushion the impact on the ice. Then the coach pushed us from half way and there was no stopping after that."

Jennifer described the feeling of excitement as she made her first run from a height of 600m, approximately half way up the course.

She said: "It was quite scary when the sled started to gather speed but I was just trying to keep my head still and focus on my position. I was only going about 40km/h but it felt really fast for a first run. Now I can reach speeds of up to 96km/h."

Jennifer was invited back to Innsbrook in January this year, where she made every run from the top of the 1200 metre track. "I was very excited about sliding from the top," she said. "You can get up to five Gs on some of the bends that's the same force experienced by a fighter pilot.

"It feels a bit disorientating at first, like being inside a washing machine. Some of my school teachers asked me what on earth do you think you are doing?', but I think it's good fun."

Jennifer is supported by the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS), a government funded programme for talented athletes who are committed to combining their sport and education. She also receives sponsorship from Westbury printers Heron Press, who paid for the £130 UVEX helmet which keeps Jennifer both safe and sane.

With some weight training and more work on her sliding technique, Jennifer is confident she can emulate the success of Pewsey hero Rudman at the 2008 Vancouver Winter olympics. Said Jennifer: "Shelley is an inspiration to everyone in the sport. I'm still waiting to meet her because she's always abroad competing.

"If I want to compete at the highest level myself I will have to build up the strength in my arms. I've got the speed but the sled weighs about six stone so it can feel quite heavy to push.

"I really want to be at the 2008 Winter Olympics. If I don't make it it would be great to be involved in the summer Olympics, as a sprinter in the 200m."