QAS bobsleigh pilot has finished in fourth place in the World Cup monobob event on the Igls track at Innsbruck, Austria, missing the podium by just 0.18 seconds.
 
The 2022 Olympian had the third fastest opening run in 54.27 seconds, and in the second run had the fourth best time in 54.42.
 
Her two-tun combined time was 1:48.69, putting Walker 0.28 seconds behind event winner Lisa Buckwitz of Germany, American Kaysha Love was second and German Laura Nolte third.
 
Fellow QAS pilot Sarah Blizzard finished 23rd.
 
After four monobob World Cup events this season, Walker is ranked third on the standings, and Blizzard is in 17th.
 
A two-woman event also took place in Innsbruck, with Walker teaming up with brakewoman Kiara Reddingius, finishing in 11th place. Sarah Blizzard and brakewoman Ashleigh Werner were 21st.
 
Germany clean swept the two-woman podium with Laura Nolte/Deborah Levi first, Kim Kalicki/Leonie Fiebig second, and Lisa Buckwitz/Neele Schuten third.
 
After the race Walker commented.
 
“Always love sliding in Igls, very tight racing and no room for errors which makes for an exciting weekend.”
 
“Of course I would have loved to finish on the podium in the monobob, but it didn’t quite come together in the last run so had to settle for fourth.
 
“The two-man didn’t really come together either. Still learning our new sled and trying new things. Sometimes it pays off and sometimes you learn, so we will take the learnings and apply it for the coming races.”
 
The IBSF tour is returning back to St Moritz, Switzerland, for a second time in as many weeks, with three events taking place on the historic handcut ice Cresta Run. The first monobob race will run on January 24, a second monobob on January 25 and the two-woman on January 26.

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.

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.

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

Australian Olympian Jackie Narracott has competed in the World Cup event in St Moritz Switzerland, the second last World Cup event of the season.

Narracott finished the skeleton event 2.57 second behind the event winner Tina Hermann of Germany, with her first run ranked 17th, and second run 13th, to give her an overall ranking of 15th out of a field size of 24.

"15th yesterday, not exactly thrilled by it but I can say that my two best runs of the week were the ones that counted," Narracott commented after the race.

"Looking forward to some (mostly) pressure free sliding in Altenberg as the prep for Worlds heats up."

The next stop on the skeleton World Cup tour will be in Sigulda, Latvia, on February 16, the last event before the 2021 World Championships in Altenberg, Germany, on February 28-29.

In other sliding sports news, two Australian bobsleigh teams competed in the Europa Cup event in Innsbruck, Austria.

Bree Walker & Stephanie Fernandez finished in 10th place, with Ashleigh Werner & Mikaela Sparre in 21st place.

IMAGE: © Jackie Narracott Instagram