Nicole Burger has found her home. It’s lying stretched out on a thin sled, face centimetres from the ice, hurtling along at 130km/h. “Crazy can’t describe the feeling,” she says from Pyeongchang, South Korea, where she’s competing in another event and continue to put South Africa on the snow sports map.
The 31-year-old, born in Cape Town’s northern suburbs but who is based in England at the Royal Air Force in High Wycombe, has made significant progress up the world ladder since picking up the sport at a relatively late age.
Any raised eyebrows at a South African excelling in the snow are understandable, perhaps, because the previous sports she threw herself into were more “South African” in nature – rugby sevens, athletics and equestrian.
“It was only through the RAF that three years ago, adter Covid-19, I turned to snow sports, specifically bobsleigh, skeleton and luge. “The RAF offers everyone who joins something like 90 sports to choose from as they mix sport and military. It’s to help build team camaraderie and also prepare for high pressure situations that are likely to crop up in their careers. I chose skeleton!
“I’ve always been a bit of an adrenalin junkie and my cousin is a national downhill MTB rider and my uncle was an elite showjumper in South Africa. I have done things like horse riding safaris in Kenya, so why not skeleton?
“But, it is hard to describe. It really is like going on a daunting rollercoaster and physically and mentally is such a challenge, The sled itself weighs between 25kg and 35kg and demands a mixture of explosiveness and power. It’s certainly not an endurance fitness that’s required. You’re bent over at the start, pushing the sled as fast as you can, sheer aggression and the hamstrings and upper body takes a pounding. Then, you switch onto the sled, getting to 130km/h. It’s an oasis of calm and you just have to let go, stay still and be right in the moment.”
Burger has proved a natural on the sled. She created history in Park City, Utah, recently when she became the first South African to win a sliding sports international event. “It has been a great experience,” she said from Korea. “I achieved a fifth and a second position in Whistler (British Columbia, Canada) and then a first and third in Park City. Now I’m in Asia and things are going so well.”
Suddenly, Milano Cortina is starting to swing into view. That’s where the 2026 Winter Olympics will be held and Burger has realistic hopes of being part of the Team South Africa squad. “There’s still a number of rces to go and qualification closes on the 18th January,” but I couldn’t be happier with the way things are progressing. It’s such an honour to represent South Africa and be part of the sporting landscape. I still come home regularly, but where I am in England I find a way to go watch the Springboks, and join in with a bunch of expats in the region.”
Now though, face down and throwing caution to the wind, Burger wants South Africans to know that while it’s a case of going from the frying pan to the freezer, anything is possible if one dedicates to the cause.
Words: Gary Lemke
