Rudman pictured with daughter Ella

Briton Shelley Rudman has won European Championship skeleton gold with Amy Williams taking bronze in Germany.

The race doubled up as the sixth of the World Cup season and Rudman beat Germany's Anja Huber by 0.22 seconds with Canada's Amy Gough in third.

Olympic champion, and Rudman's team-mate Williams, finished fifth in only her second race of the season with Donna Creighton in ninth.

But that meant Williams was the third-placed European and Creighton sixth.

Rudman, who won a silver medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, told her Twitter followers: "Wow! Just won the World Cup and Europeans in Winterberg, Germany. So happy!

"Thanks to Team Bromley and a special thank you to Richard Bromley who sacrifices a lot to be out here with Kristan and I."

It was the second time Rudman had won the European crown and she is well placed to lift the World Cup title for the first time. She is 36 points behind Huber with two races remaining.

She added: "I love the way I'm sliding at the moment and I know the World Cup race is going to go right down to the wire. There has been some great racing between the two of us."

Great Britain head coach Micky Gruenberger said: "Shelley was unbeatable. Her start continues to improve and her driving was excellent".

"Amy had some disadvantage due to a snow shower just prior to her run but recorded the highest speed on the second run of the whole field."

Rudman's partner Kristan Bromley has been nursing an injury and has decided against competing in the men's European Championships and World Cup at Winterberg on Sunday. He is planning to be back in action in St Moritz in Switzerland next week.

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