Mark
Silva

Performance Director (Bobsleigh)

Mark Silva was appointed as Performance Director for the British Bobsleigh programme prior to the start of the Milan Cortina Olympic cycle.

Mark leads the delivery of both the World Class programme and the development arm of the British Bobsleigh set up as the team target both short-term and sustainable success. 

Mark initially joined the BBSA as Bobsleigh Development Manager during the 2021/22 off season on a secondment from the Royal Air Force, heading up the pathway element of the British Bobsleigh programme.

His initial focus was primarily on working with athletes aiming for the Milan Cortina Olympics in 2026, with an eye to bringing in new talent and developing those already in the GB system, but he also sat on the Bobsleigh Performance Management Group and led on wider planning, preparation and policy, including in relation to the UK Sport funding submission for the current Olympic cycle.

Mark has served in the RAF for 23 years, having begun his career as an Aircraft Airframe Engineer in Manchester in 1998, and has held senior management roles for the past decade.

He has served numerous tours of duty in Afghanistan and during the second Gulf War and has also been part of peacekeeping operations with the United Nations.

Having tried bobsleigh, luge and skeleton as an athlete as early as 2006, Mark began coaching and managing the RAF Bobsleigh team in 2010, leading them to repeated success at the Interservice Championships over an extended period. He was also part of the Jamaican support team at the 2018 and 2022 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang and Beijing.

Meet the team