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

The OWIA Curling Mixed Doubles team of Dean Hewitt and Tahli Gill, have commenced their international season campaign at a number of World Curling Tour events in Canada.

The first event for the team was the Qualico Mixed Doubles Classic, which took place in Canmore/Banff, Alberta, Canada, on January 2-5. At the event they had three wins and two losses in round robin play, and finished second in Group C, but did not advance to the playoff stage.

The next event was the Brantford Mixed Doubles Cashspiel in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, on January 10-12, with Team Hewitt (VIS Scholarship) & Gill (QAS Scholarship) recording two wins and three losses to place fourth in Pool A, and did not progress to playoffs.

Over the weekend, the team competed in the Stu Sells Toronto Cricket Mixed Doubles Cashspiel in Toronto, Canada, but unfortunately did not advance though to the playoffs.

The next event for the team will be the Sutherland Mixed Doubles Curling Classic in Saskatoon, Canada, during February 7-9
 
IMAGE: © Team Gill/Hewitt 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

The Australian women's bobsleigh team of pilot Bree Walker and breakwoman Stefanie Preiksa have  competed in their first World Cup events of the 2019-2020 season, finishing in 13th place in Winterberg, Germany.

For Walker it was the second World Cup start of her career, and Preiksa her debut at the highest level.

The team placed 13th in the two competition runs and finished in the same place overall.

"Thrilled to have my first World Cup under my belt", said Preiksa after the race.

"Racing is always fun, but racing with this team and support circle is next level."

"World Cup gives off some great vibes too!"

The next stop on the World Cup bobsleigh tour is in La Plagne, France, with an event scheduled for January 11.

Australia’s bobsleigh athletes have competed in the Europe Cup events in Königssee, Germany, with great success, highlighted by Bree Walker taking victory in the new Olympic sport of Monobob.
 
Walker tied for first place with Chinese athlete Qing Ying with both recording a time of 1:50.73 seconds after two runs down the Königssee track.
 
Also in action for Australia was Ashleigh Werner in a very strong fifth place, only .65 seconds outside the winners.
 
Both athletes also competed in the two woman bobsleigh event, with Walker and breakwoman Sarah Blizzard placing seventh, with Werner and her breakwoman Mikaela Sparre finishing 18th.
 
After the event, an elated Walker commented on the monobob event.
 
“Exciting times ahead for this new event in our sport!”

“Thank you so much to everyone who came out to support today! That Aussie hype was so high it was deafening on the line.”

Image © Bree Walker Instagram

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

2018 Olympian Jackie Narracott has made a strong return to World Cup competition in Lake Placid, USA, placing 13th in her first World Cup since early January 2019.

The opening World Cup event of the season was originally scheduled to take place in Park City, Utah, USA, but was moved to Lake Placid, which was already scheduled to host the second World Cup, due to mechanical issues with the Park City track.

Narracott was in 18th place after the first run, but was the big improved in the second run, with the sixth fastest time to giver her the overall two run ranking of 13th.

An excited Narracott commented after the race.

"Happy little Vegemite after yesterday's race. Finished 13th with the 6th fastest run of run 2. Best part, I'm healthy. After last year and the beginning of this week that's the most important thing. It's so nice to be back."

In the men's event, Nicholas Timmings finished in 21st place.

The skeleton athletes will be back in action again in Lake Placid on December 13.

Image © IBSF/rekords

Olympians Brendan Kerry and Kailani Craine have continued to extend their impressive list of national titles, after both claimed victory at the Australian Figure Skating Championships at the O’Brien Icehouse in Melbourne.

The two skaters have had an impressive decade as Australia's leading Figure Skating athletes, highlighted by two Olympic Games appearances for Kerry, with Craine becoming an Olympian for the first time in 2018.
 
Kerry took out his eighth national title in impressive fashion, scoring 216.11 points, to finish ahead of James Min and Damian Kaptich.

In the Senior Ladies, Craine won her sixth national title, with a comprehensive win ahead of Yancey Chan and Ashley Colliver.
 
Holly Harris and Jason Chan won their first national Senior Ice Dance title, finishing ahead of last years winners Chantelle Kerry & Andrew Dodds in second, with Matilda Friend and William Badaoui rounding out the podium in third.
 
Unfortunately Pairs skaters Harley Windsor and Ekaterina "Katya" Alexandrovskaya were unable to compete, due to an injury sustained by Alexandrovskaya in training prior to the competition.

The event was a great showcase of Australian Figure Skating, with strong participation and crowds over the week at the O'Brien Icehouse facility.
 
Podium Images ©  Michael Santer Photography

Figure Skating Pair Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya and Harley Windsor have competed in the ISU GP Skate America event in Las Vegas, USA.

In the short program, they scored 55.06 points to sit in sixth place after the first round.

The pair moved back one place in the free skate, scoring 97.88 points, to finish the event in seventh place overall, from a field of eight pairs.

The event was one by the Chinese pair of Peng Cheng and Jin Yang, with Daria Pavliuchenko and Denis Khodykin from Russia in second and American's Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier in third.

PyeongChang 2018 Olympian's Brendan Kerry and Kailani Craine headline the Australian team competing at the 2019 ISU Figure Skating Championships to be held in Saitama City, Japan, this week.

Kerry is full of confidence following a ninth place result at the recent Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, where he achieved personal best scores and landed a total of three quads in the short and free program.

Also competing for Australia will be the Ice Dance team of Chantelle Kerry and Andrew Dodds.

Schedule

Wednesday, March 20
Pairs - Short Program
Ladies - Short Program

Thursday, March 21
Pairs - Free Skating
Men - Short Program

Friday, March 22
Ice Dance - Rhythm Dance
Ladies - Free Skating

Saturday, March 23
Ice Dance - Free Dance
Men - Free Skating

Sunday, March 24
Gala Exhibition

IMAGE - Brendan Kerry at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championship last month in Anaheim, CA, USA © Brendan Kerry Instagram

NSWIS Alpine Skier Greta Small recorded her highest World Cup downhill placing of the season, finishing in 39th position at Crans-Montana, Switzerland.

On Sunday, Small was also in action in the alpine combined event, finishing in 22nd, also a seasons best performance in the combined discipline.

Small will now head to Rosa Khutor, Russiia, site of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi for the next round of the women's alpine World Cup speed events.

Australia’s up and coming women’s bobsleigh team, has placed third and seventh respectively at the Women’s Bobsleigh European Cup events on the Igls track in Innsbruck, Austria.  '

With two days of competition in Igls, pilot Bree Walker was joined by breakwomen Jamie Scroop on day one and Claire Cuttler on day two.

On day one, the team of Walker and Scropp backed up their performance from one week ago to win their second bronze medal of the season, just 1.17 seconds behind the winner.

On day two, Walker and Cuttler finished in seventh, 2.03 seconds behind first place.

Next week the duo will compete in their first ever World Cup race on the Igls track.

In North America, Ashleigh Werner and Mikaela Sparre competed in two Nor Am events in Calgary, Canada. The Australian duo placed  sixth on day one and fifth in the second competition Earlier in the week Werner placed fourth in a Calgary Monobob event while Isabella Rositano was ninth.    

IMAGE - Jamie Scroop (left) and Bree Walker (right) on the Igls podium © Bree Walker Instagram

Bree Walker has continued her promising form into 2019, recording her first ever Europa Cup podium with a bronze medal in Winterberg, Germany.

With two days of competition in Winterbeg, pilot Bree Walker was joined by breakwomen Jamie Scroop on day one and Claire Cuttler on day two.

On day one, the team of Walker and Scropp where ranked third in each of the two runs for a combined time of 2 minutes .19 seconds, good enough for a final placing of third and their first career Europa Cup medals.

On day two, Walker and Cuttler finished in sixth, 2.33 seconds behind first place.

With Walker's previous best Europa Cup result being a ninth place, the podium shows significant improvement.

IMAGE - Bree Walker and Jamie Scroop pushing hard out of the start © Bree Walker Instagram

The Australian women’s bobsleigh team of Bree Walker (pilot) and Jamie Scroop (break woman) made their World Cup debut at the IBSF event in Innsbruck, Austria. 

Finishing in 13th, the field was exceptionally tight with the Aussie girls only 1.72 seconds behind first place after two runs of competition.

The event was the last of the season for the Bobsleigh team, highlighted by two European Cup podiums and making their World cup debut.

The Australian Figure Skating Championships took place during November 30-December 7 at Macquarie Ice Rink in Sydney.

Congratulations to the following athletes crowned Senior Australian Champions:

Pairs - Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya and Harley Windsor
Ice Dance - Chantelle Kerry and Andrew Dodds
Ladies - Kailani Craine
Men - Brendan Kerry

Greta Small has commenced her 2018-2019 campaign competing in the Alpine Skiing World Cup events in Lake Louise, Canada.

Small's best result was 45th in the Super-G in a field of 54 racers.

She also competed in two downhill events, finishing 46th on day one, and 48th on day two.

The ladies World Cup tour now heads to St Moritz, Switzerland, for Super-G and Slalom events on December 8-9.

Lillehammer (RWH) Australian Breeana Walker made sports history in Lillehammer (NOR) as winner of the first ever races in the coming Olympic discipline Women’s Monobob.

Following a training week with coaches and sleds provided by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation IBSF, twelve rookie bobsleigh pilots from seven nations competed in Lillehammer Olympic Sliding Center on November 4-5.

Breeana Walker won the first race with an advantage of 0.51 seconds ahead of Margot Boch from France. Karlien Sleper (NED, 1.01 seconds back) finished third.

In the second Lillehammer race, winner Breeana Walker led Karlien Sleper (0.38 seconds back) and Margot Boch (0.60 seconds back) to rank two and three, respectively.

The next IBSF Women’s Monobob training and race event is scheduled for November 13-19 in Park City (USA).

In July 2018, the International Olympic Committee IOC decided to include Women's Monobob in the Olympic program. The Monobob women will make their first Olympic appearance at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing (CHN). ©RWH2018

Results Race 1 Lillehammer

Results Race 2 Lillehammer

After a long season, Australia’s Olympic figure skaters have one more major event on their calendars this week before they can rest easy.
 
Kailani Craine, Harley Windsor and Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya and Brendan Kerry have arrived in Milan, Italy for the 2018 World Figure Skating Championships this week.
 
With many PyeonChang medallists either retiring, injured or electing to miss the final event, the chance to move up the rankings is a prime target for the Aussies.
 
First to compete on Tuesday in the women’s short program is Kailani Craine who is still on a high from her 17th place in PyeongChang.
 
“This whole experience has been everything I hoped for and more,” she said in PyeongChang. “I just wanted two clean skates and I did that.”

Pair skaters Katia Alexandrovskaya and Harley Windsor, who placed 16th at last year’s World Championships, were disappointed not to have made the free program in PyeongChang after a strong short program placing 18th.  
 
“We’re doing normal comp prep, running programs and doing simulations,” Windsor said from Moscow where they have been training for the past ten days.  
 
“The ice is good and we are skating two hours a day.  I’m coping with it (away from home) better than I used to but not coping with the cold. Everything else is OK.”
 
“We definitely want a PB and to get through the short clean,” he said.
 
Technically the pair have the arsenal to move them upward and have been working on the performance side.
 
“I’ll have to find more feeling within myself to a certain extent. Part of it is enjoying the program and sport and not doing it just for the sake of it – otherwise you never get that extra percent.”
 
For Katia, the past three years since her father passed away in January 2015, has seen many changes.
 
“2015 was so hard for me because all year was awful after my father passed away in January. December 1st was Dad’s birthday and then on December 2nd Nina told me about Harley and that was the day we started skating together.”  
 
“Then it was Australia by January. It’s so different (to Russia). Like night and day.”
 
“Of course I never thought about Olympics. I didn’t think I’d go because it was such a short time since we started.”
 
The rise of Australia’s first pair team to win a Junior World Championships, place 16th at Worlds last year, a Senior Challenger event and be crowned as Junior Grand Prix champions last December and qualify for PyeongChang is only just sinking in.  
 
“The pressure (in PyeongChang) wasn’t more than I expected. We skated well but the scores were not so good. We did a lot of work and it was a big experience for us.”
 
“Olympics is in my heart. I take all of the emotions from PyeongChang and they will be forever in my heart.”
 
“The Opening was so exciting. So cool and amazing. When you are watching on TV it’s different. It’s not like this when you go by yourself,” she said.
 
My mum and family were watching and I was so long time on the TV!”
 
Katia’s mother, also named Ekaterina did not travel to PyeongChang to watch her daughter but may consider Beijing. Although Katia is not so sure.
 
“Mum can’t watch because she really worries when we do elements. She watches the video after.”
 
After a few weeks back in Sydney, the duo headed back to Moscow for more training with coaches Andrei Pachin and Andrei Hekalo.
 
“The throws are good in Moscow,” Alexandrovskaya said. “In training today we did a clean full long program.so, I’m very happy.”
 
“It’s been a long season. I am waiting for this rest. I will go back to Moscow from Milan and have a big rest. Mentally and physically I am really tired because this season started in September. There’s a holiday with mum to look forward to.”

Brendan Kerry has an opportunity to march up the world rankings with two of the three Olympic medallists (Hanyu and Fernandez) out of the world championships.
 
Kerry’s PyeongChang Olympics with a stellar short program and final 20th place delivered the redemption he was seeking from Sochi and admits to feeling more confident with his skating now.
 
“Since coming back from the Olympics I’ve felt very stress free on the ice,” Kerry said.
 
“Usually I wake up and know how many days until I leave for the next comp. Headed into worlds I just wake up and am like OK, time to get ready and head to the rink.”

“I’m pretty exhausted mentally as the past four years have been for one moment  and now - it’s passed,” Kerry said.
 
“So - it’s a really strange feeling heading into this worlds. I feel confident about how I’m going to skate though -  that’s exciting. However, I am definitely ready to have some downtime at the end of this season before the next four year run.”
 
The 2018 World Figure Skating Championships in Milan begin this Wednesday with the women’s short program followed by the pairs short.
 
SBS Australia are live streaming the entire event. Check your local guides for more information.
 
Results and more information can be found here  

Belinda Noonan
OWIA