Jackie Narracott has created history to become the first Australian to win a World Cup gold medal in Skeleton, or any sliding sport, emerging victorious with a miracle on ice performance in St Moritz, Switzerland.
 
Competing on the spectacular hand cut ice on the natural St Moritz track, the 2018 Olympian had an amazing first run breaking the track record with a time of 1:08.72 seconds to shock the field.
 
With nerves of steel as the final competitor in the second run, Narracott put down another amazing performance with the second fastest run of the round to cross the line in first place with a two run combined time of 2:17.56 seconds, 0.06 seconds ahead of second place finisher and new World Cup champion Kimberley Bos of the Netherlands, with Mirela Rahneva of Canada 0.66 seconds behind Narracott in third.
 
“I knew today I had the potential to go fast but didn’t think quite that fast” said the 31-year-from Queensland.
 
“This has been going for so long, I’m just like there are no words, it’s a perfect day in a perfect place.”
 
“I really hope this might be the catalyst to get a few more girls in the sport and hopefully some more funding so we can have a coach and be competitive. We are proving this year that we have the athletes, it’s just having the foundations behind us to give us a chance.”
 
The breakthrough win smashes Narracott’s previous personal best World Cup finish of seventh place, which she achieved in Lake Placid, USA, in 2016.
 
Narracott will now return to her overseas base in the United Kingdom to prepare for the Beijing Olympic Winter Games.

Bree Walker has continued her successful season in monobob, with a silver medal performance in Winterberg, Germany.
 
The podium performance for Walker is her fifth of the season and sees her move into second place on the world standings.
 
Monobob is set to make its debut at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, with Walker regarded as one of the leading athletes in the event.
 
The 29-year-old from Queensland was in second place after the first run, despite crashing on the last corner and sliding across the finish line on her side.
 
It is not uncommon for sleds to go down on the last corner in Winterberg, with it often referred to as the victory roll due to its close proximity to the finish line.
 
In the second and final run, Walker showed she was impacted by the previous run, recording the fastest time of the round finishing just 0.17 seconds behind first place with a two run combined time of 1:58.93 seconds.
 
The event was won by American Elana Meyers Taylor with a time of 1:58.76, with German Laura Nolte in third with a time of 1:59.01.
 
“I am really satisfied with what I have been able to produce so far this season in the monobob” ,said Walker after extending her podium streak to five straight events.
 
“I am really proud of how I have been able to put together races and continually be on the podium, so I hope I can continue to produce good results like this heading into the next weeks monobob race in in St Moritz and then also at the Olympic Winter Games.”
 
“A very exciting time but it isn’t over yet.”

Walker teamed up with brakewoman Kiara Reddingius to compete in the two-woman bobsleigh the following day, recording an eighth place performance, her second top-10 World Cup performance of the season.
 
Also in action for Australia in the Europe Cup series in Innsbruck, Austria, was Ashleigh Werner, who took home a silver and bronze medal in the monobob world series events and teamed up with brakewoman Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr to finish in fourth place in the two-woman bobsleigh.

In the skeleton World Cup event in Winterberg, Jacqui Narracott had one of her best results of the season, finishing in 11th place.

"Finally a decent result. 11th with the fourth fastest run of heat two is a pretty good way to start 2022, said the 2018 Olympian.
 
The Australian bobsleigh and skeleton athlete will compete next weekend at the final World Cup of the season in St Moritz, Switzerland. 

Aussie Bobsledder Bree Walker has continued her great form in Monobob, claiming her third podium of the season with a silver medal at the IBSF World Series event in Sigulda, Latvia.
 
Walker's trademark electric start was on display again as she shattered the track's previous start record. Despite some small driving difficulties in her 2nd heat, Walker held on for the silver medal spot, 0.02 seconds ahead of Nadezhda Sergeeva of Russia in third place and 0.56 seconds behind Canadian Christine de Bruin who took home the gold medal.
 
“Starting 2022 with second place in Sigulda Monobob World Series”, said the 29-year-old from Queensland.

“Very happy to start the new year off with another podium!
 
“Thank you so much to my team, family, friends and sponsors for all your support in 2021! Excited for what is to come in 2022.”
 
Also recording a strong performance for Australia was Ashleigh Werner who finished in sixth place, 0.8 second behind first place.
 
In the two-woman bobsleigh, Ashley Werner and brakewoman Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr teamed up for their first ever World Cup start, and were the best placed Australian’s in 12th place. The result was a personal best World Cup finish for Werner, and the World Cup debut for Toomey-Orr, who is a 5 time Crossfit Games champion and Commonwealth Games gold medallist in weightlifting.
 
The team of Walker and brakewoman Kiara Reddingius were set for a top-5 run but crashed towards the end of the Sigulda track, sliding across the finishing line on their side. The pair recovered to take the second run, but unfortunately crashed again to finish in 18th place.
 
Team Walker will now head to Winterberg, Germany, for the next round of World Cup competition, with Team Werner off to Innsbruck, Austria, for a Europe Cup event.

Dean Hewitt and Tahli Gill have created history, earning Australia’s first ever Olympic quota spot in Curling, after winning the Mixed Doubles Olympic Qualification Event in Leeuwarden, Netherlands overnight.
 
The pair defeated Korea 6-5 in the final to cap off an incredible tournament, with the Australian pair winning seven matches from seven to earn one of the final two Beijing 2022 quotas.
 
In the final, the Koreans jumped out to an early lead with a 4-2 advantage after the first five ends. In the sixth end, Australia called a power play, and managed to clear out Korean stones early. Gill produced a nose-hit on the only Korean stone in the house to score three points and take a 5-4 lead.
 
In the eighth and final end with scores tied at 5-5, Gill showed nerves of steel with her final throw using the backing of the one Korean stone lying in the house to draw for the one point that gave her team a 6-5 win and a place in the Olympic Games.
 
“It’s still sinking in a little bit” said the 22-year-old Gill from Brisbane.
 
“As basic as it sounds, I thought I’ve just got to throw the right split and the right line. I took a really deep breath and that was all I focussed on. I didn’t think about it being a shot to go to the Olympics or anything like that. I knew I had to throw the right line and weight.”
 
“Making that three in the power play, that turned things around a lot for us” said Hewitt, the 27-year-old from Melbourne. .
 
“It’s amazing. I called Tahli about three and half years ago and said, ‘look, do you want to make a run at these Olympics?’ We’ve been working so hard over the past few months and the past couple of years, and it’s all paid off. We’ve had so much support from home, we can’t thank them enough. We’ve been away from home for three months and two days, and we’re going straight back to Canada for a few more months.”

Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt showed nerves of steel with two great comeback wins at the mixed doubles Final Olympic Qualification tournament in Leeuwarden, Netherlands to ensure they will progress to the knockout playoff stages.

The pair started their third day of competition coming back from 6-1 down to defeat Denmark 8-7 in the final end, before scoring the last four points of the match to beat Russia 8-6 after trailing 6-4 more than halfway through the match.

After earlier tournament victories over Germany and Turkey, the duo move to four wins and no losses, ensuring they will progress to the knockout playoff stages despite still having two matches against Spain and Hungary tonight (AEST) remaining in the round robin section of the tournament.

Hewitt and Gill have shown incredible precision and calm under pressure, as they strive to earn one of the final two Beijing 2022 quotas at this tournament to become Australia's first ever Olympic curlers.

World Curling reported the Denmark pairing of Jasmin Lander and Henrik Holtermann started strongly against the Australian duo, opening with a score of two in the first end of their game. Denmark added another two points in the third end and following that up with a steal of two in the fourth when Australia's attempted tap-out did not curl, giving Denmark a 6-1 lead at the break.

Australia then called a power play in the fifth end and used it to score three points and bring themselves back into the game, at 4-6 down. Denmark's Jasmin Lander drew for one point in the sixth end to take a 7-4 lead but in the seventh, Australia drew to score three and tie the game at 7-7.

In a tense eighth end, Australia set themselves up with a stone on the button, with plenty of stones in front. Lander's final take-out attempt wrecked on a front stone, giving Australia a steal of one to complete a second-half comeback with an 8-7 win that kept their undefeated record going.

Australia's comeback curlers did it again later that evening against Russia, with World Curling reporting Australia's Gill got Australia off to a better start, just getting her last draw around a front guard to open the scoring with two points. In the second end, Russia could only score one point with a hit and stay by Anna Sidorova and in the third end, Gill missed her attempt to score three and had to settle for just two points and a 4-1 lead. Russia scored two in the fourth end with a gentle tap around the button by Sidorova to give Australia a 4-3 lead at the break.

In the fifth end, Gill just brushed a front guard with her last shot and this handed Russia a steal of three and the lead, 6-4. Australia then drew level in the sixth end with a draw for two by Gill and then a single steal in the seventh gave them a 7-6 lead. In the eighth, Russia's Sidorova missed a challenging raise take-out, giving Australia another single steal and the 8-6 win.

Dean Hewitt was happy with the result but said there was still work to do heading into the final round robin matches and knockout playoffs.

"We had to make a couple of freezes in that last end but overall, we're happy with that," Hewitt said. "We've had a few battles and now we just need to sharpen up on a couple of things, and go back to the drawing board for tomorrow."
The Australians will take on Hungary and Spain tonight (EAST) to close out the round robin section of the tournament, before the playoffs the following evening.

You can follow scores and access streaming links via World Curling here

Dual Olympian Greta Small opened her alpine skiing World Cup campaign in Lake Lousie, Canada, with three days of racing in tough conditions.

Finishing 50th after her first downhill event, Small improved to 44th on day two of downhill competition and in the Super G race on day three, Small finished 43rd. All three events were won by Italy’s Sofia Goggia.

Small will continue her World Cup season at St Moritz, Switzerland this weekend.

Bobsled Bree Walker continued her successful 2021 season, claiming gold in the Monobob World Series race in Winterberg, Germany.

Focusing on additional experience on the Winterberg track, Walker elected to forego the World Cup event on the same weekend in Altenberg with great results, finishing first ahead of Germany’s Lisa Buckwitz and France’s Margot Boch.

At the Altenberg World Cup event, Ashleigh Werner finished 17th in the monobob, before teaming with Kiara Reddingius in the 2-woman bobsleigh, also finishing in 17th.

Skeleton racers Jackie Narracott and Nick Timmings continued their World Cup season in Altenberg Germany, with both athletes recording personal bests.

Narracott finished in 15th with her quickest time ever (58.66) on the Altenberg track for a 2-run total of 1.57.60, while Timmings achieved his best ever World Cup result of 19th with a flying 1.54.19 combined time.

The results have both athletes in strong positions to earn quotas for Australia at Beijing 2022 as they continue their World Cup season this weekend in Winterberg, Germany.

Bree Walker has claimed the first Australian world cup podium of the Olympic season.
 
Walker continued her strong start in World Cup competition, with an impressive performance in the monobob discipline in  Innsbruck, Austria, taking home the bronze medal in the second event of the IBSF tour.
 
Monobob is set to make its debut at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, with Walker regarded as one of the leading athletes in the sport, having finished the 2020-2021 season ranked second in the world.
 
The 29-year-old from Queensland was in second place after the first round of competition and moved back one place to finish in third place after the second run.
 
The event was won by American Elana Meyers Taylor, with German Laura Nolte in second.
 
“We made a few important changes this week which obviously had a huge impact”, said Walker after stepping off the podium.
 
“This race certainly gives me confidence, but this season is a marathon, not a sprint, so we hope to build of this result and continue to trust the process for the rest of the season.”
 
Also in action for Australia was Ashley Werner, who finished in 21st place.
 
Walker and Werner will be back in action tonight in Innsbruck, competing in the two-woman bobsleigh World Cup.

IMAGE: IBSF/Viesturs Lacis

Jackie Narracott has placed 19th in the second IBSF World Cup of the season in Innsbruck, Austria. 

Competing for the second week in row on the Igls track, Narracott was 1.73 seconds behind event winner Elena Nikitina from Russia.

In the men's event, Dean Timmings competed in his first World Cup of the season, finishing in 29th place.

The Bobsleigh and Skeleton tour now heads to Altenberg, Germany, for the next round of World Cup of competition next weekend.

Bree Walker has made a strong start at the opening Woman's Monobob World Series event in Innsbruck, Austria, narrowly missing the podium in sixth place.

In a tight race, after two runs just 0.25 seconds separated Walker from event winner Elana Meyers Taylor of the USA, and just 0.11 from claiming the bronze medal.
 
Rounding out the podium was Meyers Taylor teammate Kallie Humphries in second place with German Laura Nolte in third.
 
"I'm very happy to start the season off with a top six place," said the 29-year-old Walker.

"Of course we always look for the podium but this is a very different year.

"No-one is messing around and you can see that by how tight the field is but it makes for really fun racing.


Ashley Werner also made her debut in a Monobob World Series event, finishing in 19th place.
 
Both athletes are aiming to compete for Australia when Monobob makes its debut at the Beijing Olympic Winter Games in February.
 
Werner and breakwoman Kiara Reddingius also made their World Cup debut in the two-woman bobsleigh event, finishing the highest placed  Australians in 19th, with Walker and her breakwoman Sarah Blizzard just behind in 22nd.
 
The Bobsleigh and Skeleton World Cup tour will remain in Innsbruck for one more week, with additional weekend of competition next weekend..

IMAGE: ©Rekords/IBSF

Competing in her first World Cup event for almost 12 months, Jackie Narracott has had a confidence boosting performance at the opening IBSF Skeleton World Cup in Innsbruck, Austria.
 
The 2018 Olympian was sitting in 18th position after the first run, but had a strong performance in her second run, recording the eighth fastest time of all competitors and a much improved final two-run ranking of 13th.
 
Taking the win was Russian slider Elena Nikitina, with Kimberley Bos of the Netherlands in second place, and Kim Meylemans of Belgium in third.
 
“I am happy with my result today”, said the 31-year-old from Queensland.
 
“My second run was much more indicative of my capability and I'm glad I got the chance to show it.
 
“I knew I had that run in me if I got my composure back to the level it needed to be. Also keeping my sled straight out of the groove helped a lot! In run one, neither of those things were as good as I would've liked and with the way the other girls are sliding you've got to be on your game at all times.
 
“Being back on the World Cup tour feels like home and I'm loving being back with friends. I missed it last year.”
 
Also in action for Australia in the men’s event was Elliot Brown, who made his World Cup debut finishing in 29th place.
 
The Skeleton athletes will remain in Innsbruck for another week, with a second World cup event taking place on the Igls track next weekend.

IMAGE: ©Rekords/IBSF

Figure skaters Brendan Kerry and Kailani Craine have earned Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic quota places for Australia after strong performances at the Nebelhorn Trophy in Germany.

With only seven male and six female quota spots remaining in the men's and women's singles competition, the 2018 Winter Olympians Kerry and Craine performed fantastically under the pressure of this event being their last chance to secure a quota, ensuring Australia will be represented in men's and women's singles figure skating at Beijing.

Team Australia featuring Dean Hewitt and Tali Gill has finished in thirteenth place overall at the 2021 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championships in Aberdeen, Scotland.
 
Taking part in their first competition since the outbreak of the COVID pandemic, Hewitt and Gill were one of 20 teams at the event, with the top seven nations achieving direct qualification to the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
 
Team Australia finished its Group A Round Robin with a record of 3 wins and 6 losses, missing out on advancing to the playoff stage.
 
The highlight was no doubt the 3-point win over curling powerhouse, Canada, with Hewitt and Gill emerging victorious 8-5.
 
Wins were also recorded against Hungary and Spain.

The event was won by Scotland, who defeated Norway in the final 9-7.
 
Hewitt and Gill have one last chance to qualify for Beijing later this year at the Olympic Qualification Event, with the top two teams securing a place in the Olympic field. One of the ten places in the Olympic field will be taken up by China, who is already guaranteed a place as host nation.

IMAGE © WCF

2018 NSWIS Olympian Kailani Craine has just fallen short of qualifying for the free program at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Stockholm, Sweden, finishing in 26th place.

The 22-year-old from Newcastle scored 56.86 points in the opening short program at the World Championships, missing out on the 24-woman-final by just two spots in 26th place.

The women's podium was was an historic clean sweep for Russia, with 16-year-old Anna Shcherbakova taking victory with Yelizaveta Tuktamysheva in second place and Aleksandra Trusova in third.

In the Ice Dance event, Australia was represented by Holly Harris and Jason Chan who also just fell short of advancing to finals.

The Ice Dance couple finished the rhythm dance program in 24th place, missing out by four places for the free dance in their World Championship debut.

Victory in the ice dance also went to Russia, with the team of Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov in first, with Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue of the USA in second and Canadian pair Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier rounding out the podium in third.

Unfortunately two time Olympian Brendan Kerry was unable to compete in the men's due to an injury sustained earlier in the season.

IMAGE: Kailani Craine at the World Championships in Stockholm

Greta Small has completed the 2021 FIS Alpine Skiing World Championships in Cortina d'Amprezzo, Italy, with a personal best performance in the alpine combined event.

The two time NSWIS Olympian finished in 15th place, bettering her previous best finish of 18th in the same event in 2015 at Vail/Beaver Creek.

Earlier in the week Small finished the downhill in 28th place and was 37th in the super-g.

"Good times in Cortina at my Fourth World Championships" Small posted after the race.

"After a year of uncertainty, coming back from injury and only a couple weeks of race preparation in the past two years, it was a joy and accomplishment to be at the start gate.

"Stoked with my best ever Worlds result of 15th in the combined.

"Thank you to all my supporters racing down Olympia Delle Tofane was fun."

Also in action at the World Championships was Snow Australia racer Hugh McAdam, who had to take part in the qualifier events in giant slalom and slalom. 

McAdam qualified in fifth place in the giant slalom, but unfortunately did not finish in the first run of the main event.

In the slalom qualifier, McAdam did not finish in the first run, missing out on qualifying for a start in the World Championship race.
 
IMAGE: Spectacular sunny conditions for Greta Small at the World Championships in Cortina, Italy © Greta Small Instagram

Bree Walker has claimed her third medal of the northern hemisphere winter, taking bronze in the final monobob event of the season in Königssee, Germany.

The podium performance moves the QAS athlete into second place on IBSF end of year rankings in the new Olympic sport which will make it's debut in Beijing 2022. 

Walker finished just 0.54 seconds behind Swiss sliders Melanie Hasler and Martina Fontanive who tied for first place.
 
"This season we set our standards high, despite there being a global pandemic and this resulted in our biggest and best season by far" Walker commented.

"Medals and top ten finishes against the most competitive fields the sport has seen in many years, so we are very proud of what we have been able to achieve for Australia."

"Hopes are that we can just go from strength to strength as a team.

"This will require a lot of hard work and dedication to our sport and finding sponsors to help us go even faster (we are going to need the support that’s for sure) but this season has really motivated us and we are going to put everything we have into this Olympic year."

Walker had planned to finish her two woman bobsleigh season at the final event of the World Cup season in Konigsee, but the event was cancelled due to a track temperature equipment malfunction.

With the season now finished, Walker will now return back to Australia.

IMAGE: Bree Walker celebrates with her third place trophy in Königssee © Bree Walker Instagram

QAS athlete Bree Walker has had a difficult week at the IBSF World Championships in Alttenberg, Germany, unable to finish in the monobob experiencing mechanical failure & rolling her Bobsled in the third heat.

The Altenberg track is notoriously unforgiving and rated as one of the most challenging on the global circuit. True to form it proved treacherous for a number of competitors in this years World Championships. 

At World Championship and Olympic sliding events, four heats take place to decided the winner, and after the first two heats on day one Walker was in 15th place, 2.11 seconds behind first place.

Racing in the third heat on the second day of competition, Walker had a great start recording the third fastest start time and was set for an improved run before her sled toppled over towards the end of the course. After sliding upside down for a section of the track, the sled did recover and Walker was able to complete her run ranked 18th overall after three heats.

After the incident in the previous run, Walker was forced to withdraw from the fourth and final heat due to mechanical breakage of her sled.

Walker will now compete in the final monobob world series event next weekend in Konigssee, Germany, on February 20.

IMAGE: Bree Walker in the start gate at Altenberg © IBSF TV

Two time Olympian Greta Small has competed in the FIS Alpine World Championship speed events in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, with weather impacting the first week of the event. .

After a 3 day weather delay, conditions finally improved and the women's super-g was the opening event at the World Championships, with the NSWIS skier finishing in 37th, 5.49 seconds back from the event winner Lara Gut-Behrami of Switzerland.

In the downhill Small was the 28th skier across the line, 3.41 second behind Corinne Suter who made it a Swiss double in the women's speed events.

Small has one event left in Cortina, the alpine combined event on tonight. The format for the alpine combined event is a super-g event up first, with athletes then competing in the slalom, with the times from both events added to determine the winner.

Snow Australia racer Hugh McAdam will be making his World Championship debut in the giant slalom and slalom events.

McAdam will need to compete in the qualifying event in each discipline, with the top-25 advancing to the medal events.

The schedule for McAdam in Cortina is
Giant slalom qualification event - Thursday, February 18
Giant slalom medal event - Friday, February. 19
Slalom qualifying event - Saturday, February 20
Slalom medal event - Sunday, February 21
 
IMAGE: After the first three days were impacted by bad weather, it was great to see the return of sunny skies in Cortina © FIS Alpine

The two-woman Bobsleigh team of QAS pilot Bree Walker and breakwoman Sarah Blizzard have been unable to compete in the opening event of the IBSF World Championships in Altenberg, Germany, after two crashes in training.

Walker posted on social medial the decision to withdraw from the two-woman event.

"I’m never one to give up, I always find a way to make it happen. Our team is always the ones that get back up, get back in and goes again. But as I have grown as an athlete I have also learnt when pushing through could do more harm then good.
.
"In preparation for the 2021 World Championship in Altenberg, Sarah and I had two rough crashes that left us feeling pretty beat up.

"This track demands respect and with not having a spare teammate and the way we were feeling we had to weigh up whether competing this weekend would bring us the results we knew we were capable of.
.
"So it is with a heavy heart, we have decided not to race in the two-man event this weekend. We had to think about our own health as we still have a lot that we want to achieve in the next year leading towards the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games. Good luck to everyone who is competing this weekend and we will see you back next week for the Monobob event."
 
Walker will be back in action competing in the Monobob event at the World Championships later this week on February 13-14.

Walker is the equal world number one in Monobob after the last event in Austria, and the QAS athlete will be back in action competing at the World Championships in that event later this week on February 13-14.
 
IMAGE: Bree Walker and Sarah Blizzard in Winterberg earlier in the season © IBSF / Viesturs Lacis

Snow Australia has announced two athletes who will represent the Australian team at the upcoming 2021 FIS Alpine World Championships including two-time NSWIS Olympian Greta Small and World Championships debutant Hugh McAdam.

Twenty-year old Hugh McAdam will join top Australian Alpine skier Greta Small in Cortina (Italy), where the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships start next Monday and run until the 21 February.

Small recently made yet another World Cup comeback from a torn ACL injury, the third major knee injury in her career, and will compete in the Downhill, Super G and Alpine Combined in her fourth FIS World Championships.

McAdam will have to make his way into the Giant Slalom and Slalom World Championships races through the qualifying events, scheduled on the 18 February and 20 February respectively. McAdam needs to finish in the top-25 in those races to advance and start in the medal events.

AUSTRALIAN ATHLETES COMPETITION SCHEDULE

2021 FIS Ski World Championships - Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy

    Monday, Feb 8 - Greta Small, Alpine Combined - Women
    Tuesday, Feb. 9 - Greta Small, Super-G - Women
    Saturday, Feb. 13 - Greta Small, Downhill - Women
    Thursday, Feb. 18 - Hugh McAdam, Giant Slalom Qualification Event - Men
    Friday, Feb. 19 - Hugh McAdam, Giant Slalom - Men*
    Saturday, Feb. 20 - Hugh McAdam, Slalom Qualification Event - Men
    Sunday, Feb. 21 - Hugh McAdam, Slalom - Men*

*if qualified
 
IMAGE: Greta Small carving up the slopes last season at Club Med resort in Valmorel © Chris Hocking/OWIA

Article courtesy of Snow Australia

Bree Walker has continued her great form in the monobob event, taking gold in the World Series event in Innsbruck, Austria, and moving into equal first place on the world standings.

The QAS athlete defended her victory from earlier in the season in Innsbruck, making it one of her favorite tracks for competition. Walker has now competed in eleven monobob events, emerging victorious an impressive seven times in the new Olympic event which will debut in Beijing 2022.

Walker also set both a new start and track record during the first run in Innsbruck.
 
The result will no doubt give Walker plenty of confidence heading into the 2021 World Championships, which will take place in Altenberg, Germany in mid February.

Finishing in second place 0.23 seconds behind Walker was American Elana Meyers Taylor, with Melissa Lotholz from Canada 0.38 seconds in third place.
 
“We are still trying to work out the new monobob sleds, but it seems we have worked it out here,” Walker said after the race.
 
“I’m over the moon to come back here and defend my win from earlier in the season in a much stronger field this time.”
 
“I knew my process well here, so I just stuck to the plan and it paid off.”
 
“I’m excited to compete in my second world championships in Altenberg, so will focus on working out my process there and executing it to the best of my ability.”
 
Walker teamed up with breakwoman Sarah Blizzard. the following day to compete in the two two-woman bobsleigh World Cup.

The pair finished in 13th place, 0.83 seconds behind the event winners from America Kaillie Humphries and Lolo Jones.

Walker and Blizzard will now prepare for the 2021 World Championships, which will take place in Altenberg Germany. The World Championships open with the two woman bobsleigh on February 5-6 with monobob scheduled to take place on February 13-14.
 
IMAGE: Bree Walker celebrates victory in Innsbruck  © IBSF / Viesturs Lacis

NSWIS athlete Greta Small has made a successful return to World Cup competition, with a personal best finish in the downhill at Crans Montana, Switzerland and 2.45 seconds behind the winner, Sofia Goggia of Italy.

Small finished in 34th place, eclipsing her previous best World Cup downhill result of 36th achieved in January 2018.

Small posted after the race:"comeback race is in the books and a PB in World Cup downhill, let's keep working!"

Small also took part in another downhill and super-g in Crans Montana, but did not finish her run in both events.

Next up for Small is the World Cup event in Garmisch Partenkirchen, Germany, with a downhill on January 30 and super-g on January 31.

IMAGE: Greta Small last season at Club Med resort in Valmorel © Chris Hocking/OWIA

QAS athlete Bree Walker has competed in two events at the World Cup in Königssee, Germany, with a ninth place finish in the Monobob and 12th in the two-woman bobsleigh.

In the monobob event, Walker was in 12th place after the first run, but had a much improved second run to record the seventh fastest time of the round.

Interestingly and very promising for future improvement was that Walker was in the four fastest starters on both runs.

This gave Walker and overall placing of ninth, 1.25 seconds behind the event winner Kaillie Humphries of the USA. Rounding out the podium was Humphries American teammate Elana Meyers Taylor in second with German Stephanie Schneider in third.

On Sunday Walker teamed up with breakwoman Sarah Blizzard in the two-woman event, finishing in 12th place,

The pair were sitting in ninth place after the first run, and had the 13th fastest second run, finishing 1.09 seconds behind event winners from Germany Kim Kalicki and Ann-Christin Strack.

In second place was the German team of Stephanie Schneider/Leonie Fiebig, with Americans Elana Meyers Taylor/Sylvia Hoffman in third.

The World Cup tour will now head to Innsbruck, Austria, for a monobob event on January 30 and bobsleigh on January 31.
 
IMAGE: Bree Walker and Sarah Blizzard last week in St Moritz © physioelite_usa