From Beijing, CHN
(February 10, 2022) – Jackie Narracott had been on the World Cup tour since December of 2014. She’d been on the regional tours before that, and it took from then all the way until the World Cup finale prior to the 2022 Winter Olympics for her to win a gold medal at the top level of sliding.
That momentum from the finale in St. Moritz has lasted nearly a month, as the Aussie leads at the halfway mark in the women’s Olympic skeleton race.
Narracott trailed only Canada’s Mimi Rahneva after one run in Yanqing. On the second run Narracott held her spot, putting .21 between herself and Germany’s Hannah Neise. Rahneva couldn’t answer, as the Canadian make a handful of mistakes to plummet down the order and put Narracott into the lead at halfway.
As expected, Narracott had a lot of fun out there.
“It was so much fun! That’s how I slide best,” she said. “This is what dreams are made of! I had hoped to be in the mix but to be sitting on top is unreal!”
“To be honest, two more runs like that and if I stay calm and composed what’s going to be tomorrow will happen and we’ll see.”
Behind Narracott, Hannah Neise set the quick time of the second heat to move up from eighth in the first heat to second place. Teammate Tina Hermann jumped up from fifth to end the second heat in third.
Though she moved up the order, Neise knows she needs to be consistent in the final two runs.
“It’s a long track, it’s a tricky track,” she explained. “So everyone needs four runs, including me. So we’ll see how tomorrow goes. Everyone has a chance to move up.”
China’s Dan Zhao, flag bearer in the Opening Ceremony and one of the favorites coming into the race, ended the first heat in fourth place, only .09 out of third. Germany’s Jacqueline Lölling is fifth, just .15 out of third, while World Cup champion Kimberley Bos overcame a bumpy first run to jump up from tenth to sixth.
Katie Uhlaender led the way for the United States after the first two runs of competition. Her first run was ninth fastest, though there were a couple of small mistakes. Her second run was cleaner and as a results she was able to move up a spot into eighth place. Teammate Kelly Curtis, in her first Olympics, finished the first day of sliding tied for 18th with ROC’s Elena Nikitina.
Uhlaender said she’s feeling better than ever.
“I feel the best I’ve ever felt at an Olympics,” she said after her second run. “I feel the most prepared mentally that I ever have.”
Canada’s Mimi Rahneva held the lead after one heat, but had a bumpy ride down on her second run and fell to ninth, .83 out of the lead. Teammate Jane Channell also struggled on her second run to fall from 13th to 17th.
Great Britain had hoped that their World Cup struggles would be overcome in these Olympics similar to how the team rallied in 2018. That wasn’t the case, however, and 2018 bronze medalist Laura Deas will enter the third heat in 21st place. Teammate Brogan Crowley moved up from 23rd to 22nd on the second run.
Katie Tannenbaum tested positive for COVID prior to official training and was in quarantine until two days prior to competition. She was able to get exactly two training runs before her Olympic debut. She finished the day in 25th, but managed to get down the track despite everything.
“There was the test event and race in October,” she said prior to the race. “Twenty-three of the 25 women that are here were there at that test event. So most of them have raced here already. I think most women have probably had about 50 runs on this track, and I’ll go into race day having had two. It’s a big disadvantage. You can’t learn a track in two runs.”
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | IBSF Rank | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Jaclyn Narracott | AUS | 18 | 19 | 5.28 | 5.26 | 62.05 | 62.29 | 2:04.34 |
| 2 | Hannah Neise | GER | 15 | 9 | 5.40 | 5.36 | 62.36 | 62.19 | 2:04.55 |
| 3 | Tina Hermann | GER | 7 | 4 | 5.37 | 5.35 | 62.28 | 62.29 | 2:04.57 |
| 4 | Dan Zhao | CHN | 3 | 38 | 5.25 | 5.22 | 62.26 | 62.40 | 2:04.66 |
| 5 | Jacqueline Lölling | GER | 14 | 10 | 5.42 | 5.40 | 62.27 | 62.45 | 2:04.72 |
| 6 | Kimberley Bos | NED | 4 | 1 | 5.15 | 5.13 | 62.51 | 62.22 | 2:04.73 |
| 7 | Anna Fernstädt | CZE | 19 | 17 | 5.37 | 5.37 | 62.35 | 52.44 | 2:04.79 |
| 8 | Katie Uhlaender | USA | 16 | 13 | 5.26 | 5.26 | 62.41 | 62.46 | 2:04.87 |
| 9 | Mirela Rahneva | CAN | 11 | 8 | 5.20 | 5.15 | 62.03 | 63.14 | 2:05.17 |
| 10 | Yuxi Li | CHN | 21 | 27 | 5.23 | 5.13 | 62.64 | 62.62 | 2:05.26 |
| 11 | Kim Meylemans | BEL | 12 | 12 | 5.14 | 5.16 | 62.35 | 62.92 | 2:05.27 |
| 12 | Janine Flock | AUT | 6 | 2 | 5.31 | 5.29 | 62.64 | 62.72 | 2:05.36 |
| 13 | Yulia Kanakina | ROC | 8 | 5 | 5.13 | 5.10 | 62.56 | 62.95 | 2:05.51 |
| 14 | Nicole Silveira | BRA | 2 | 18 | 5.21 | 5.27 | 62.58 | 62.95 | 2:05.53 |
| 15 | Alina Tararychenkova | ROC | 10 | 7 | 5.12 | 5.14 | 62.74 | 62.86 | 2:05.60 |
| 16 | Valentina Margaglio | ITA | 9 | 6 | 4.98 | 5.03 | 62.84 | 63.04 | 2:05.88 |
| 17 | Jane Channell | CAN | 13 | 11 | 5.07 | 5.08 | 62.59 | 63.31 | 2:05.90 |
| 18 | Elena Nikitina | ROC | 5 | 3 | 5.01 | 5.02 | 62.92 | 63.07 | 2:05.99 |
| 19 | Kelly Curtis | USA | 17 | 14 | 5.28 | 5.21 | 62.94 | 63.05 | 2:05.99 |
| 20 | Endija Terauda | LAT | 23 | 35 | 5.40 | 5.38 | 62.98 | 63.15 | 2:06.13 |
| 21 | Laura Deas | GBR | 1 | 31 | 5.20 | 5.13 | 62.99 | 63.15 | 2:06.14 |
| 22 | Brogan Crowley | GBR | 20 | 26 | 5.06 | 5.04 | 63.32 | 63.23 | 2:06.55 |
| 23 | Enunji Kim | KOR | 24 | 37 | 5.24 | 5.20 | 63.28 | 63.68 | 2:06.96 |
| 24 | Kellie Delka | PUR | 22 | 30 | 5.43 | 5.44 | 64.83 | 64.47 | 2:09.30 |
| 25 | Katie Tannenbaum | ISV | 25 | 49 | 5.46 | 5.44 | 66.48 | 67.36 | 2:13.84 |
