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