Jaclyn Narracott wins skeleton silver at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games

Jaclyn Narracott (Garrett Wollman, Wikimedia Commons)

Australia has won its fourth medal of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.      On Saturday, Jaclyn Narracott of Brisbane won a silver medal in women’s skeleton.

Narracott posted a second place time of 4:08.24. Hannah Neise of Germany won the gold medal with a time of 4:07.62. Kimberley Bos of the Netherlands won the bronze medal with a time of 4:08.46. Narracott eared a medal by 0.49 seconds over Tina Hermann of Germany, who had a fourth place time of 4:08.73.

Narracott had a first run time of 1:02.05, which was good enough for second place at the time. The first run leader was Mirela Rahneva of Canada, who had a time of 1:02.03. However Rahneva’s second run was disastrous, as she posted a time of 1:03.14, which was only the 18th best time in the heat, and in the process moved her out of medal contention.

Narracott’s second run time was 1:02.29, and was the third fastest time (only behind Neise at 1:02.19, and Bos at 1:02.22). Narracott’s third run time was 1:01.79, and was once again the third fastest time (only behind Neise at 1:01.44 and Rahneva at 1:01.72). Then in the fourth run, Narracott had the fourth fastest time of 1:02.11.

Narracott entered the 2022 Olympic Winter Games with significant momentum.  She won a World Cup gold medal in St. Moritz on January 14. As a result, she became the first Australian to win a World Cup gold medal in skeleton according to Martin Belam of The Guardian.

Australia has now won one gold medal, two silver medals and one bronze medal. Their first medal came from Tess Coady (bronze, women’s slopestyle snowboarding). She was followed by Jakara Anthony (gold, women’s moguls), and Scotty James (silver, men’s halfpipe).