{{Short description|British skeleton racer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}} {{Infobox sportsperson |name = Dominic Parsons |image = Dominic Parsons (GBR) Pyeongchang 2018.jpg |image_size = |caption = Parsons at the 2018 Winter Olympics |birth_date = {{birth date and age|1987|9|8|df=yes}} |birth_place = London, England |headercolor = lightsteelblue |country = {{GBR2}} |sport = Skeleton |show-medals = yes |medaltemplates = {{MedalOlympic}} center|80px {{MedalBronze|2018 Pyeongchang|Men}} }} '''Dominic Edward Parsons''' (born 8 September 1987) is a British former skeleton racer. He won a bronze medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and also competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. He retired from the sport at the end of 2019.
==Career== Parsons began as a runner for Blackheath and Bromley Harriers Athletic Club, running the 400m. He switched to skeleton in 2007 after being introduced to the sport by Adam Pengilly at the Bath bobsleigh and skeleton push-start track.<ref name=BBC1>{{cite news| url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/winter-olympics/43084983| title= Dom Parsons: Ten things you didn't know about GB's skeleton bronze medallist| work=BBC Sport| date=16 February 2018| accessdate=16 February 2018}}</ref> He made his Europa Cup debut in 2008,<ref name=BBSA>{{cite web| url=http://www.thebbsa.co.uk/the-team/directory/dom-parsons| title=Dom Parsons| publisher=British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association| accessdate=16 February 2018| archive-date=5 February 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205232630/http://www.thebbsa.co.uk/the-team/directory/dom-parsons| url-status=dead}}</ref> and finished fourth at the 2009 and 2010 IBSF Junior Skeleton World Championships.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.teamgb.com/athletes/dominic-parsons| title= Dominic Parsons| publisher=Team GB| accessdate=16 February 2018}}</ref>
Parsons made his Skeleton World Cup debut in December 2012, finishing 17th in a race at La Plagne in France.<ref name=BBC1 /> In 2013, Parsons won a bronze medal at a World Cup event in Calgary, Canada.<ref name=Telegraph1>{{cite news| url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/winter-olympics/2018/02/16/dom-parsons-slides-dramatic-bronze-win-great-britains-first/| title= Dom Parsons slides in for dramatic bronze to win Great Britain's first medal at Pyeongchang Games| work=The Daily Telegraph| date=16 February 2018| accessdate=16 February 2018}}</ref> Parsons competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, finishing tenth.<ref>[http://www.sochi2014.com/en/athlete-dominic-edward-parsons Dominic Parsons – Great Britain] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140213130721/http://www.sochi2014.com/en/athlete-dominic-edward-parsons |date=13 February 2014 }} – Sochi 2014 Olympics</ref> Parsons finished fifth overall in the 2014–15 and 2015–16 Skeleton World Cups, and tenth overall in the 2016–17 Skeleton World Cup.<ref name=BBSA/><ref name=BBC1 /> In January 2018, Parsons finished fourth at the World Cup event in St. Moritz, Switzerland.<ref name=Telegraph1/> He achieved three consecutive top ten finishes in the World Championships between the 2014 and 2018 Olympics, finishing seventh in 2015, tenth in 2016 and eighth in 2017.<ref name=BBC1 />
At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Parsons came first in the second practice run. His sled was specifically designed for the Pyeongchang track.<ref>{{cite news| url= https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/feb/12/gb-skeleton-pyeongchang-skin-suits-british-cycling| title= GB skeleton riders blitz practice rivals as custom skinsuits deliver cutting edge| last=Ingle| first=Sean| work=The Guardian| date=12 February 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url= http://www.chelmsfordweeklynews.co.uk/news/15999119.dom-parsons-bags-bronze-on-a-sled-designed-specifically-for-pyeongchang-track/| title= Dom Parsons bags bronze on a sled designed specifically for Pyeongchang track| work=Chelmsford & Mid Essex Times| date=16 February 2018| accessdate=18 February 2018}}</ref> He later won a bronze medal in the men's skeleton event.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/winter-olympics|title=Results – Skeleton Men – Skeleton – Winter Olympics|website=BBC Sport|access-date=16 February 2018}}</ref><ref name="teamgb">{{cite web|title=Dominic Parsons Biography|url=https://www.teamgb.com/athletes/dominic-parsons|publisher=British Olympic Association|accessdate=9 February 2018}}</ref> His medal was Great Britain's first at the Games, and the first for a British male in skeleton since John Crammond at the 1948 Winter Olympics.<ref name=Telegraph>{{cite news| url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/winter-olympics/2018/02/16/dom-parsons-combines-slick-technology-iron-clad-resolve-become/| title= Dom Parsons combines slick technology with iron-clad resolve to become Britain's breakout Winter Olympics star|last=Brown| first=Oliver| work=The Daily Telegraph| date=16 February 2018| accessdate=16 February 2018}}</ref> Parsons' starting speed has been hampered by an ankle injury on the way to a dentist's appointment, which required ligament reconstruction surgery.<ref name=Telegraph/>
On 28 December 2019, the British Bobsleigh & Skeleton Association announced that Parsons was retiring from competition, after starting the season's first two races in Lake Placid, and that teammate Jerry Rice will take his place on the World Cup roster.<ref>{{cite press release | publisher = British Bobsleigh & Skeleton Association | date = 28 December 2019 | title = Parsons calls time on skeleton career | url = http://www.thebbsa.co.uk/2016/parsons-calls-time-on-skeleton-career/}}</ref>
==Personal life== As of 2018, Parson was studying for a PhD at the University of Bath, researching combustion in turbo-diesel engines.<ref name=Telegraph/> Parsons and Kristan Bromley own a company which produces sleds.<ref name=BBC1/> Parsons is in a relationship with Australian skeleton racer Jaclyn Narracott.<ref name=BBC1/>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== *{{IBSF}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parsons, Dominic}} Category:1987 births Category:Skeleton racers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Category:Skeleton racers at the 2018 Winter Olympics Category:Living people Category:Olympic skeleton racers for Great Britain Category:English male skeleton racers Category:Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Category:Medalists at the 2018 Winter Olympics Category:Olympic medalists in skeleton Category:Sportspeople from London Category:Alumni of the University of Bath Category:Team Bath winter athletes Category:20th-century British sportsmen Category:21st-century English sportsmen