National Careers Week is an initiative of the Career Industry Council of Australia and aims to celebrate careers, career development, career development services, and career development practitioners and to promote the economic, social and personal benefits of career development.
 
Career development is a process of managing learning, work and leisure to progress through life. It includes gaining and using the skills and knowledge needed to plan and make informed decisions about education, training, and work. Everyday decisions and priorities affect career development.
 
Athletes are encouraged to explore their education and career options, with several great events happening around the country during National Careers Week from May 16 – 22.
 
The Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA) caught up with 2022 Olympic Skeleton silver medallist Jackie Narracott to discuss the benefits of having a healthy sport/life balance when you are an elite athlete.
 
Narracott is a great example of successfully managing both areas, with her incredible 2021-2022 season which included the first ever World Cup victory and Olympic medal in Skeleton for Australia, combined with her progress in a career in Interior Design.

What is your occupation, and/or career aspirations outside of sport?
Once I finish sliding I would love to be an Interior Designer, possibly with my own business one day.
 
When I left school I did a Bachelor of Exercise and Sport Science as I saw myself as an athlete and therefore that was the career path I thought I had to take.
 
When Covid hit, it gave me the opportunity to revaluate and properly begin working on my career path post sliding because I'd like to be prepared for when the time comes.
 
Initially, I looked at all the 'typical' options for a sports loving athlete- Dietitian (cheers Ali for all the advice), Sports Massage etc but eventually took a chance on a Diploma of Interior Design. When I told my sprint coach his response was 'about time!'. It has been the best decision as it's enabled me to discover another part of myself that had definitely been buried over the years.
 
Right now I'm trying to find a job anywhere in the industry to gain experience and get a handle on exactly what the day to day life of an Interior Designer is like. I'm also helping friends redesign their places which I'm absolutely loving!
 
How important is it for elite athletes to balance their careers and sport? How do you maintain work/study while on tour competing?
I think it’s incredibly important to have balance between developing a post sport career and sport. For me, it took the pressure off a bit as I knew I had something else to go to should something happen or things not go to plan. It also gave me something else to focus on during the day. Covid has made studying on tour a lot easier!
 
A World Cup week over the last 2 seasons has been day on/day off instead of several days in a row which meant I had a lot more time on my hands to schedule study in.
 
In a normal year I think it would've been harder but instead of entire days dedicated to study it would've been an hour or so each day, while making sure I was getting enough recovery in. I found it was a great way to switch off from sliding.
 
What are some of the skills you have developed through your career and or/education that are transferable to your sport?
The key ones are probably adaptability and problem solving. Both are incredibly important for both Interior Design and Skeleton and they've both helped each other.
 
Do you find having a dual career improves your performance on ice?
Having a dual career with a purpose (I've had jobs while sliding that definitely haven't helped) has massively helped my performance on ice.
 
For one thing, it's taken the pressure off a bit as I know if things don't go to plan on the ice (injury etc) then I've got a backup ready to go. It also gave me something else to focus on. While on tour that was awesome as it meant I could let the days sliding sink into my brain before analysing it. While at home, it gave me something to fill the time before training with and a much needed break from the monotony of training on my own.
 
How important are your support networks to help you balance your career and/or education?
I am very fortunate that my support network wholeheartedly backed me finding the balance and pursuing a completely different career path.
 
While I didn't take the Dietetics route in the end, OWIA Sports Dietitian Ali Miles was fantastic in giving me an insight into life as a Dietician, as was OWIA AW&E Manager Alana Rybicki in helping to figure out if I could do any study remotely from my UK base. Dom (my husband) was incredibly supportive in finding a career path I was passionate about, no matter what that was. I'm unsure if he's still keen on my decision now that I want to change things around the house constantly!
 
My coaches and sports psych were also incredibly supportive, probably because they were relieved, I finally had something else to focus on besides training.

Many thanks to Jackie Narracott for sharing her career development journey with us this National Careers Week, we love to see our Winter Sport athletes learning and thriving during their time in high-performance sport.

You can follow Jackie’s journey on Instagram and Facebook.

Sporting history has been made in the women's skeleton thanks to an incredible silver-medal performance from Jackie Narracott, who has won the first ever sliding sport medal for Australia at an Olympic Games.

In one of the most terrifying and daring sports at the Olympics, Jackie showed nerves of steel over the two days of competition to make Australia proud in a performance for the ages.

An achievement 10 years in the making for Jackie, she started the second night of her competition with a run that was almost textbook perfect. It began with a stunning push start in just 5.27 seconds and Jackie was looking composed on the first few turns, in clear control of her sled and the aerodynamics as she began to pick up speed.

A little battle out of corner four and into five didn't seem to faze the sliding sensation, as she quickly recovered and reached a top speed of 126.8km/h.

Jackie completed her run in record time (1:01.79), setting a new track record at the time on the ‘Dragon' course which helped her overall time (3:06.13). That third run was good enough for Jackie to hold the silver medal position entering everyone's fourth and final run.

Germany's Hannah Neise, who won the gold, followed Jackie's third run by eclipsing her track record with a time of 1:01.44 to bring her overall time to a leading 3:05.99.

There was just 0.14 seconds between the two athletes and an incredibly tight top seven, which all set up for a tight finish for the medals.

The order of competitors on the fourth and final run was adjusted to have the fastest athletes take their turn last, which meant there was an agonising 90-minute build up for Jackie.

Jackie had the second last run of the competition, and with ice in her veins she put herself in prime position to slide into history.

With a strong start, something consistent across all of her performances, Jackie flew down the track in perfect control. A sliding hero before she even stepped onto the track for her last shot at the medals, Jackie's incredible driving of her sled led to another fast time of 1:02.11 which gave her an overall time of 4:08.24.

Overcome with emotion, Jackie's performance guaranteed herself a medal. The skeleton superstar secured a silver medal for not just her home state of Queensland, but all of Australia.

When Jackie was asked about her performance, she said she had hoped for her best on the day.

"I think coming in [before winning gold at Saint Moritz in January] I would have been happy with top ten." Jackie said.

"After my Saint Moritz result, I knew it was a possibility [for a medal] but our field of competitors is ridiculous so to come out with this is pretty incredible.

"I don't think you can [describe the feeling of winning an Olympic medal]. It's just everything I've dreamt of. It's going to take a while for everything to sink in."

It was a performance that shocked the Skeleton world. The historic achievement is even more incredible give it was only a few years ago a severe concussion left Jackie unsure if she would ever drive a car again, let alone a skeleton sled to win an Olympic silver medal.

he credits Dom Parsons who is her husband, coach and an Olympic medallist for playing a vital role in the comeback.

"It's so nice to share this with him. To have him by my side and have me calm is just the best."

"It's everything to me to finally get here, and to finally do this is unbelievable.

"I can't wait to see family at the airport and put this around their neck. We did it.

"I would love this to be catalyst for more girls to get into this sport."

With a face of elation, tears of joy, a huge smile and a silver medal - it was a moment that Jackie and an entire nation will never forget.

olympics.com.au
Shannon Knaus

Jackie Narracott has taught the Yanqing dragon to breathe fire.

She narrowly missed the top spot in her first run by +0.02 of a second but her next run was phenomenal, sliding her into the top spot by a significant 0.21 margin, throwing down the gauntlet to her rivals in a stunning display of sledding.

The 31-year-old from Brisbane is loving the track and says she can get even more speed as she heads to the finals.

"I am stoked. There's more in both of those runs but I don't care, it's just so much fun," Jackie exclaimed. "I was just calm and fun and I did everything I needed to do to come down with my record which is unreal.

"Then to be sitting in first is more than I could have hoped for. To be actually siting here is pretty cool. This field is ridiculously competitive and to be sitting on top of it is phenomenal.

"It was always going to be a good race and I knew that if I put down two runs, calm and composed, I knew I was going to be in the mix. But that still doesn't make it any less exciting to be sitting in number one."

Jackie's dominance in her opening campaign is tipped to draw more attention to both her and the sport. She spoke about what this means to her heading into tomorrow's final.

"Hopefully this will get more girls inspired to give it a shot.

"It would be absolutely unreal if we actually got some more girls back into skeleton.

In January, Jackie won her first World Cup at Saint Moritz in Switzerland and became Australia's first ever World Cup gold medallist in Skeleton.

When asked about what created that turning point back in January she said "I had my husband and my coach by my side."

"Whereas all year we have been doing sessions via FaceTime and online. So, to have him here, by my side, where we can do video and work in real time and to have that support with me is huge.

"He was here at the test event for three weeks and he was at Saint Moritz for that week also."

Moving into the final, she has a cool head and wants to stay grounded.

"I try to stay in the moment, not watch too much TV, don't think too far ahead and just try to distract myself so that come 9pm tomorrow night (12am AEDT Monday), I am ready to go."

Her final preparation we be focused on ironing out any minor details and the millimetres that will make the biggest difference.

"[Tonight, I will be] going back through my runs and seeing what little tweaks we need to make and then it's just about recovery.

"First of all, just making sure my legs are ready to keep pushing fast tomorrow night and then just trying to keep my brain occupied and calm and not think too far ahead."

olympics.com.au
Jonathan Sweet

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

2018 Olympian and QAS athlete Jackie Narracott has made an encouraging start to the 2020-2021 World Cup skeleton season, with an eighth place performance in Innsbruck, Austria.
 
Narracott had been based in Bath, UK, preparing for the northern hemisphere winter, and only returned to the skeleton track a week prior to the World Cup.
 
It was a PB result for Narracott on the Innsbruck track, easily eclipsing her previous best 15th in January 2020.
 
Narracott was in ninth position after the first run, but improved in the second round with the sixth fastest run, giving her an overall placing of eighth.
 
The event was won by Austrian Janine Flock, with Kimberly Bos of the Netherlands in second and German Jacqueline Loelling in third.
 
The next World Cup on the IBSF Skelton tour will be in Winterberg, Germany, on January 8.

Alpine Skiing
Greta Small continued her injury rehabilitation at the AIS in Canberra making great progress with the Strength and Conditioning Staff in the gym before heading to Jindabyne for most of the winter to return to on snow training. After leaving Jindabyne, Small returned to the AIS for a further six-week intensive Strength and Conditioning bock.
 
Small is planning on heading to Europe for on snow training in mid December.
 
Bobsleigh
Bree Walker has been in Europe since last winter preparing for the northern hemisphere season, and has taken part in a number of successful push and sliding camp activities.
 
Unfortunately, Walker was unable to compete at opening two World Cup events in Sigulda, Latvia, after a member of her support team tested positive for COVID.
 
Bree is now planning for the next event on the Bobsleigh World Cup tour in Innsbruck, Austria, on December 12-13.
 
Curling
Mixed doubles pair Dean Hewitt & Tahli Gill have been training in their home states, with Hewitt at the Victorian Institute of Sport and Gill at the Queensland Academy of Sport.

With International travel restrictions in place it has been very difficult to access overseas Curling Ice to date.

The pair are aiming to be back on the ice training perhaps in Asia, by January in preparation for the 2021 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championships in late April. The event has been moved to Europe, with the exact location to be announced.
 
Figure Skating
Brendan Kerry has been based in Europe, training in France and Russia.
 
Kerry was scheduled to compete in the Internationaux de France ISU Grand Prix event in mid November, but it was unfortunately cancelled due to COVID restrictions in France.
 
Kailani Craine has remained at home in Newcastle training at her local ice rink, with Ice Dance couple Chantelle Kerry Andrew Dodds also training in Sydney.
 
Skeleton
Jackie Narracott has been training in Bath, UK, preparing for the northern hemisphere winter.
 
Narracott is currently evaluating the best plan, locations and opportunities for training and competition during the international season due to the difficult COVID situation in Europe.

Jackie Narracott has had an unfortunate end to a positive season, finishing 27th at the World Championships in Altenberg, Germany.

Narracott was in 21st place following the first run, but a crash on her second run ended any chance of a high finish.

"Crashing out of corner four in run two yesterday meant my World Championships were over sooner than expected," Narracott commented after the race.

"Right now it hurts like hell and I feel like I've let a lot of people down, however, one bad mistake doesn't change the fact I had my best season on World Cup and got through healthy, the only real goal."

"This year's World Championships were a lesson and eventually I'll be ok with that."

During the World Cup season Narracott had some strong performances, highlighted by a ninth place finish at the World Cup in Lake Placid, USA.
 
IMAGE:  © rekords

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

Australia's Bobsleigh and Skeleton athletes have competed in the World Cup event in Königssee, Germany, with  Olympian Jackie Narracott again the best performed Australian athlete.

Narracott finished the skeleton event 1.91 second behind the event winner Tina Hermann of Germany. After some mistakes on her first run where she was ranked 17th, Narracott had a much improved second run which was the 11th fastest down the track, giving her a final placing of 13th overall.

"Stoked with my second run yesterday. ended up in 13th after I figured out the groove (oops), " Narracott commented after the race.

"On to the perfection that is St Moritz!"

The two-woman bobsleigh team of Bree Walker and Stefanie Fernandez finished 16th, 2.44 seconds behind the first place sled of Kaillie Humphries and Sylvia Hoffmann of the USA.

The next stop on the World Cup tour will be in St Moritz, Switzerland, from January 31 to February 2nd.

IMAGE: © Jackie Narracott Instagram

Australia's Bobsleigh and Skeleton athletes have competed in the World Cup event in Innsbruck, Austria, with  Olympian Jackie Narracott highlighting the Australian performances.

Narracott finished the Skeleton event in 15th place, a personal best finish on the Igls track, 1.24 second behind the event winner.

"Relief, happiness and pride all mixed into one", Narracott commented after the race.

"15th (my best result here) and a huge PB is everything I hoped for but more than I was expecting out of this race."

"Leaving Igls feeling good for the first time after having learnt lots. Time for Königssee!"

Also in action for Australia in the Skeleton was Nicholas Timmings in 25th place.

The two-woman Bobsleigh team of Bree Walker and Sarah Blizzard finished 16th, 2.34 seconds behind first place.

The next stop on the World Cup tour will be in Königssee, Germany, from January 24-26.

IMAGE: © Jackie Narracott Instagram

2018 Olympian Jackie Narracott has placed 15th in the opening World Cup skeleton event of the new year in Winterberg, Germany.
 
Narracott started strongly with her first run placing of 11th, but had the 18th fastest second run to move back in the ranking with a final position of 15th.
 
“Sometimes it's not your day and unfortunately today was that day”, Narracott commented after the race.
 
“Dropping four spots to 15th hurts a lot, but thankfully it's just mentally.
 
“Leaving Winterberg healthy with the knowledge there's more in the tank. On to La Plagne.”
 
Tina Hermann of Germany took the win in her home country, with Canadian Mirela Rahneva in second and Janine Flock of Austria in third.
 
The next stop on the World Cup circuit will be in La Plagne, France, with the women’s skeleton scheduled for January 10.

IMAGE: © rekords

OWIA Skeleton athlete Jackie Narracott has recorded another encouraging performance in the second event of the 2019/2020 season, with a ninth place World Cup result in Lake Placid, NY, USA.
 
The result comes after a 13th place finish a week earlier, also in Lake Placid, which hosted back to back events after the original opening World Cup scheduled for Park City, UT, USA, was moved due to mechanical issues with the Park City track.

Narracott now has four World Cup top-10 performances in her career, with her first also coming in Lake Placid, a seventh place finish in January 2016.
 
After the race, Narracott reflected on her strong start to the season.
 
“Heading into the Christmas break sitting tenth in the world after finishing ninth yesterday.
“Pretty stocked to have finally cracked the top ten.“
 
Narracott will now have a break from competition for a few weeks, before resuming the World Cup tour in Winterberg, Germany, on January 5.

Image © IBSF/rekords