Patrick
Atkin

Place of birthGrimsby

Age27
Height5'11"
Weight78kg

Patrick Atkin joined the British Skeleton team in the summer of 2019 after successfully coming through the latest nationwide recruitment campaign.

But while his route to the programme was similar to the majority of his team-mates in following the Discover Your Gold pathway, Patrick’s journey stands out in that he was initially only promoting the campaign rather than participating in it.

Working in marketing at the time of the campaign in 2018, he was employed to raise awareness of the UK Sport and English Institute of Sport initiative but was then persuaded to take part himself. He went on to see off thousands of other hopefuls and was invited to join the talent team prior to the start of the 2019/20 season.

A former decathlete and triathlete, Patrick competed at a national level in the former but lists his biggest sporting achievement to date as rowing 50km on the River Thames and raising £12,000 for charity in the process.

He previously considered trying out for bobsleigh before opting to test himself in skeleton instead.

A graduate from the University of Loughborough, Patrick currently combines his life as an athlete with a career as a sports agent. 

PATRICK IN HIS OWN WORDS...

  • Nickname: Captain

  • Most likely to be spotted: training, working or wishing I could afford another holiday
  • Least likely to be found: planning in advance
  • Me in three: competitive, busy, focused
  • Heroes: it's got to be Usain Bolt - the best to do it
  • Random fact: I competed at the Beer Mile World Championships in 2016 - I was rubbish at both the running and the drinking part

  • If I wasn’t a slider: I work as a sports agent alongside my training so would continue to pursue that

Meet the team