From St. Moritz, SUI
(January 14, 2022) – Australia’s Jackie Narracott began her international skeleton career in 2013 with a 12th place finish in a North American Cup race in Lake Placid. Nine years and 44 World Cup races later, Narracott became an IBSF World Cup gold medalist.
Narracott was a bit of a surprise leader after the first run, finishing the first heat .17 ahead of World Cup point leader Kimberley Bos, with defending World Cup champ Janine Flock back in third and two-time St. Moritz winner Mimi Rahneva in fourth.
On the second run Bos threw down the quickest run of the heat, only .01 off of Narracott’s first run time, to slide into the lead with just the Aussie to go.
Narracott gave up a bit to Bos off the start, and the race was back and forth at each split during Narracott’s run. But Narracott carried enough speed at the bottom, and as she crossed the line she was .06 up on Bos for her first career World Cup medal, a gold.
Narracott was expectedly elated after the race.
“This has been coming for so long,” Narracott told IBSF television after the race. “There are no words! It was a perfect day in a perfect place.”
“It was unbelievable, I knew I had the potential to go fast but didn’t think it would be quite that fast. Hopefully this will be the catalyst to get more women and more funding. We’re proving we have the funding and the athletes, we just need the foundation to give us the chance.”
Kimberley Bos won silver, which was more than enough to give her and the Netherlands’ a first World Cup title. Bos’s season had been as consistent as it was spectacular, with only one finish outside of the top six, a tenth, and six medals.
Canada’s Mimi Rahneva won bronze for her third medal in Switzerland. She came from fourth to slide onto the podium in the second heat.
Austria’s Janine Flock finished fourth, which was enough to move her to second place overall in the World Cup standings.
Italy’s Valentina Margaglio jumped up from ninth in the first heat to finish fifth, while the United States’ Kelly Curtis finished a career-best sixth.
The United States’ Katie Uhlaender helped place two American sleds in the top ten with a ninth place finish, while Megan Henry finished 15th.
Canada’s Jane Channell just missed out on a top six with a seventh place finish, while Laura Deas led the way for Great Britain in 17th.
Malta’s Shannon Galea finished 24th in her first career World Cup start, two spots behind Sweden’s Leslie Stratton.
The overall standings for the IBSF World Cup saw Bos finish 119 points ahead of Flock, with Elena Nikitina third. Tina Hermann and Yulia Kanakina rounded out the top five.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Jaclyn Narracott | AUS | 20 | 5.42 | 5.42 | 68.72 | 68.84 | 2:17.56 |
| 2 | Kimberley Bos | NED | 9 | 5.31 | 5.28 | 68.89 | 68.73 | 2:17.62 |
| 3 | Mirela Rahneva | CAN | 6 | 5.35 | 5.34 | 69.23 | 68.99 | 2:18.22 |
| 4 | Janine Flock | AUT | 8 | 5.42 | 5.39 | 69.16 | 69.20 | 2:18.36 |
| 5 | Valentina Margaglio | ITA | 10 | 5.15 | 5.14 | 69.53 | 68.95 | 2:18.48 |
| 6 | Kelly Curtis | USA | 17 | 5.48 | 5.41 | 69.50 | 69.37 | 2:18.87 |
| 7 | Jane Channell | CAN | 14 | 5.27 | 5.26 | 69.47 | 69.44 | 2:18.91 |
| 8 | Hannah Neise | GER | 7 | 5.52 | 5.51 | 69.47 | 69.51 | 2:18.98 |
| 9 | Katie Uhlaender | USA | 16 | 5.46 | 5.41 | 69.42 | 69.58 | 2:19.00 |
| 10 | Tina Hermann | GER | 11 | 5.60 | 5.54 | 69.63 | 69.52 | 2:19.15 |
| 11 | Elena Nikitina | RUS | 12 | 5.18 | 5.17 | 69.76 | 69.46 | 2:19.22 |
| 12 | Jacqueline Lölling | GER | 5 | 5.66 | 5.59 | 69.99 | 69.50 | 2:19.49 |
| 13 | Alina Tararychenkova | RUS | 13 | 5.27 | 5.29 | 69.83 | 69.79 | 2:19.62 |
| 14 | Anna Fernstädt | CZE | 19 | 5.75 | 5.71 | 69.89 | 69.83 | 2:19.72 |
| 15 | Megan Henry | USA | 15 | 5.35 | 5.37 | 69.77 | 70.11 | 2:19.88 |
| 16 | Yulia Kanakina | RUS | 4 | 5.28 | 5.22 | 70.11 | 69.81 | 2:19.92 |
| 17 | Laura Deas | GBR | 22 | 5.34 | 5.33 | 70.15 | 70.33 | 2:20.48 |
| 18 | Nicole Silveira | BRA | 18 | 5.40 | 5.45 | 70.48 | 71.05 | 2:21.53 |
| 19 | Kellie Delka | PUR | 1 | 5.72 | 5.57 | 71.13 | 70.46 | 2:21.59 |
| 20 | Katie Tannenbaum | ISV | 3 | 5.60 | 5.61 | 71.08 | 71.43 | 2:22.51 |
| 21 | Endija Terauda | LAT | 2 | 5.65 | 71.15 | |||
| 22 | Leslie Stratton | SWE | 23 | 5.64 | 71.40 | |||
| 23 | Brogan Crowley | GBR | 21 | 5.42 | 71.78 | |||
| 24 | Shannon Galea | MLT | 24 | 5.81 | 73.55 | |||
| 25 | Ana Torres Quevedo | ESP | 25 | 6.29 | 74.92 |
