From Beijing, CHN
(February 12, 2022) – Like Mariama Jamanka before her, Hannah Neise came into the Olympics without a World Cup gold medal, but left the Olympic games with an Olympic title. The 21 year old German slider kept her nation’s winning streak in the 2022 Olympic Winter Games alive with a gold medal in the women’s skeleton competition.
The final two runs of the Olympic skeleton program were held on Saturday, and Australia’s Jackie Narracott came into those runs as the leader with Germany’s Neise and Tina Hermann hot on her tail. Outside of the medals looking in were a throng of contenders, including home ice slider Dan Zhao of China, Olympic silver medalist Jacqueline Lölling, and recent World Cup champion Kimberley Bos.
On the third run Hannah Neise took charge, breaking the track record set by Canada’s Mimi Rahneva in the first heat to move to the lead, .14 ahead of Narracott, who herself set another quick time to solidify her hold on second place.
On the fourth and final run Narracott was quick, enough so to hold onto second place, but Neise was quicker. The German again set the quick run of heat to win a gold medal, her first at the top level of competition and Germany’s sixth straight on the sliding track in Yanqing.
After the race Neise credited the team behind her for her gold, the first ever for Germany in women’s skeleton.
“The secret to my performance was the team and the coaches behind my back,” Neise said. “They all believed in me. I started to believe in my self and trust myself that I could do a good job today”
Asked if the nerves got to her a little in the first run, she said “Yesterday I wasn’t nervous at all. Today I woke up at six in the morning and I felt very nervous!”
Jackie Narracott finished second to give Australia its first ever sliding sport medal.
“Words can’t describe it,” she said after the race. “We’ve never won a sliding sport medal, so for me to be it…creating your dream twice in two races, it doesn’t get any better.”
The Australian was also excited to get home for some warm weather.
“I’m going to hug mom and dad first, then it’s beach time! It’s been so long since I’ve had proper sunshine.”
Behind the two gold medal contenders there was a fight for bronze. In the third heat Kimberley Bos had made her way up into fourth place, while Rahneva, whose second run had seemed to have dropped her out of medal contention, found herself back in fifth place after a huge third run.
The fourth run for the final medal spot eventually came down to Hermann and Bos. Bos went first, and set the second quickest time of the final heat to take control with Hermann up next. Hermann, who traditionally can make up lost time on her way down the track, hit a wall late in her run to drop her behind Bos.
The Olympic medal for Bos was the first sliding sport medal for the Netherlands caps a season where she won the Netherlands’ first ever skeleton World Cup gold medal, and its first ever World Cup title.
Afterward, Bos’s talked about her emotional win.
“It’s hard to describe,” she said. “I’m so proud! I did not have a great first run today, and it’s been a way back to the top to make it onto the podium!”
Narracott and Bos both hoped that their accomplishments would boost the sport in their countries.
“I’m hoping this will get some more girls back into skeleton. We used to have programs, so to have some more backing and not have it end with me would be absolutely unreal,” Narracott said.
Bos agreed. “I can relate to that, I hope this will be a boost for the sport. I’m the only female athlete at the moment and it’s a really great sport!”
For Hermann, her fourth place finish was her second Olympic top five finish. Rahneva’s fifth place was both an Olympic best and a career-best in a four-heat race.
The United States’ Katie Uhlaender finished sixth in her fifth Olympic games. In those five games she’s had three top six finishes, including a fourth place in Sochi.
While not entirely thrilled with a sixth place finish, Uhlaender was happy with her effort after the race.
“I started in sixth, I finished in sixth, so it’s not so bad,” Uhlaender said. “I’m a little bummed. I thought that we could pull off a medal today. I did what I could, that’s what I had today. That’s what was in my tank today, so I’m happy ”
Anna Fernsädt finished .09 out of sixth in seventh, the Czech Republic’s best ever Olympic skeleton finish.
Canada’s Jane Channell never could figure out the track in Yanqing. She finished 17th, moving up from 18th after three runs.
The United States’ Kelly Curtis entered the third heat tied with Russia’s Elena Nikitina for 18th place. A bumpy second run, however, dropped her down the finishing order and she eventually ended her Olympics in 21st place.
Great Britain had hoped to have a resurgence coming into these Olympic Games. They’d mostly struggled to find time on the track despite some quality slides by their athletes. Laura Deas finished the Olympics in 19th despite what appeared to be four clean slides. Teammate Brogan Crowley never could find her rhythm on the track in Yanqing and finished one spot behind Curtis in 22nd.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | IBSF Rank | Run 1 | Run 2 | Run 3 | Run 4 | Total |
| 1 | Hannah Neise | GER | 15 | 9 | 62.36 | 62.19 | 61.44 | 61.63 | 4:07.62 |
| 2 | Jaclyn Narracott | AUS | 18 | 19 | 62.05 | 62.29 | 61.79 | 62.11 | 4:08.24 |
| 3 | Kimberley Bos | NED | 4 | 1 | 62.51 | 62.22 | 61.86 | 61.87 | 4:08.46 |
| 4 | Tina Hermann | GER | 7 | 4 | 62.28 | 62.29 | 61.90 | 62.26 | 4:08.73 |
| 5 | Mirela Rahneva | CAN | 11 | 8 | 62.03 | 63.14 | 61.72 | 62.26 | 4:09.15 |
| 6 | Katie Uhlaender | USA | 16 | 13 | 62.41 | 62.46 | 62.15 | 62.21 | 4:09.23 |
| 7 | Anna Fernstädt | CZE | 19 | 17 | 62.35 | 62.44 | 62.27 | 62.26 | 4:09.32 |
| 8 | Jacqueline Lölling | GER | 14 | 10 | 62.27 | 62.45 | 62.22 | 62.41 | 4:09.35 |
| 9 | Dan Zhao | CHN | 3 | 38 | 62.26 | 62.40 | 62.53 | 62.33 | 4:09.52 |
| 10 | Janine Flock | AUT | 6 | 2 | 62.64 | 62.72 | 62.23 | 62.45 | 4:10.04 |
| 11 | Yulia Kanakina | ROC | 8 | 5 | 62.56 | 62.95 | 62.24 | 62.34 | 4:10.09 |
| 12 | Valentina Margaglio | ITA | 9 | 6 | 62.84 | 63.04 | 62.45 | 62.05 | 4:10.38 |
| 13 | Nicole Silveira | BRA | 2 | 18 | 62.58 | 62.95 | 62.55 | 62.40 | 4:10.48 |
| 14 | Yuxi Li | CHN | 21 | 27 | 62.64 | 62.62 | 62.39 | 62.94 | 4:10.59 |
| 15 | Alina Tararychenkova | ROC | 10 | 7 | 62.74 | 62.86 | 62.43 | 62.79 | 4:10.82 |
| 16 | Elena Nikitina | ROC | 5 | 3 | 62.92 | 63.07 | 62.51 | 62.37 | 4:10.87 |
| 17 | Jane Channell | CAN | 13 | 11 | 62.59 | 63.31 | 62.71 | 62.34 | 4:10.95 |
| 18 | Kim Meylemans | BEL | 12 | 12 | 62.35 | 62.92 | 62.34 | 63.73 | 4:11.34 |
| 19 | Laura Deas | GBR | 1 | 31 | 62.99 | 63.15 | 62.71 | 62.70 | 4:11.55 |
| 20 | Endija Terauda | LAT | 23 | 35 | 62.98 | 63.15 | 62.65 | 62.79 | 4:11.57 |
| 21 | Kelly Curtis | USA | 17 | 14 | 62.94 | 63.05 | 63.24 | 3:09.23 | |
| 22 | Brogan Crowley | GBR | 20 | 26 | 63.32 | 63.23 | 62.82 | 3:09.37 | |
| 23 | Enunji Kim | KOR | 24 | 37 | 63.28 | 63.68 | 62.83 | 3:09.79 | |
| 24 | Kellie Delka | PUR | 22 | 30 | 64.83 | 64.47 | 64.55 | 3:13.85 | |
| 25 | Katie Tannenbaum | ISV | 25 | 49 | 66.48 | 67.36 | 64.84 | 3:18.68 |
