Winter Olympics star Shelley Rudman is facing a change this year that's far more challenging than bob-sledding - the birth of her first child in October.

The 26-year-old silver medal winner, a born and bred Pewsey lass, is pregnant by her boyfriend Kristan Bromley, the British number one and a former European and World Cup winner in the same sport.

Kristan, 35, is nicknamed Professor Ice as he designs and builds the British squad's sleds. And the couple are so convinced their offspring will follow in their footsteps that he has already begun sketching out designs for a mini-sled for Professor Ice's little Ice Baby.

Shelley said: "Kristan and his brother Richard have been talking about making sleds for their children. They were joking at first but I think they're quite serious now.

"When I did the World Championships in St Moritz in January, I was already pregnant, although I didn't know it, and I was going down runs at 80mph with the baby inside me. So it's already got a bit of experience."

Shelley, who took up the sport only five years ago and is sponsored by the King of Shaves, was the solitary British medal winner at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

The former classroom assistant says the timing of her pregnancy will fit perfectly with her ambition to win gold at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver in Canada.

"It's something we've been talking about and it's exactly the right moment,' she said. "We've still got three years until the next Winter Olympics.

"It's very exciting. I'm not sure what will happen with my body but I hope to be able to compete again by the middle of next season, around January."

But Shelley refused to be drawn about the couple's plans for marriage. "We shall see what the future holds," she said. "Not yet."

Kristan said: "I'm over the moon. It's going to be an adventure for us, not just because of the birth of our first child, but also for the prospect of having to balance our lives with our sport.

"When I saw the scan, that was when it hit me. It brought up such a lot of emotions I wasn't expecting.

"We just hope the baby is going to have fast legs and a good sense of humour."

The couple have recently moved to Yorkshire, where Kristan has been awarded an honorary professorship at Sheffield Hallam University's Centre for Sport and Exercise Science.

He became interested in skeleton bob while designing fighter jets for British Aerospace and took up the sport when no one else would test his designs.

He swiftly became so successful that every other European country except Norway banned him from practising on their runs.

But he could come only fifth in Turin last year, a disappointment for him after being crowned World Cup champion two years earlier.