Jacqueline Lölling claims silver ahead of Laura Deas
PyeongChang (RWH): Lizzy Yarnold has continued her reign as Olympic skeleton champion. At the Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang (KOR), the British athlete managed to come out on top after four nail-biting heats.
Just one tenth of a second – or a few centimetres on the 1,376-metre-long Olympic ice track – separated the top three athletes ahead of the final heat. Prior to the final run, Lizzy Yarnold (GBR), Jacqueline Lölling (GER) and Austria’s Janine Flock each finished fastest in the first three heats. However, it was Lizzy Yarnold who eventually managed to secure the golden final run. Setting a new track record (51.46 seconds), she left her competitors in her wake and secured her second Olympic gold following her win in Sochi in 2014.
The Olympic silver medal in PyeongChang went to World Champion Jacqueline Lölling of Germany (0.45 seconds back) while bronze was awarded to Laura Deas of the United Kingdom (0.62 seconds back), who had been just outside the medal zone in the previous three runs.
Janine Flock, who entered the final heat in first place, dropped back to fourth on her final run. She missed out on Austria’s first Olympic medal in skeleton by just 0.02 seconds.
Lizzy Yarnold’s second Olympic victory is also the third win in succession for Team GB. Amy Williams won gold in Vancouver in 2010. With their two medals in PyeongChang, Britain’s athletes cemented their position as the most successful nation in Olympic women’s skeleton. The UK has won a total of six medals at five Winter Games. ©RWH2018
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Lizzy Yarnold (GBR, Olympic Champion in 2014 and 2018, 2015 World Champion)
“I dreamt about it happening, but I never really believed it would come true. Double Olympic Champion and then to share the podium with my best friend Laura: I’m completely overwhelmed!”
Jacqueline Lölling (GER, 2018 Olympic silver medallist, 2016 and 2017 World Champion, overall World Cup winner in 2017 and 2018)
“I am incredibly happy. It’s really hard to put it into words. My goal was simply to get a medal; I would have been happy with a bronze. When I saw in the leaders box that the gap between Janine and I was getting smaller and smaller, I really got in the zone as I knew that I am faster at the bottom.”
Laura Deas (GBR, 2018 Olympic bronze medallist, seventh in the 2015 World Championships, fifth in the 2016 European Championships)
“I was crossing my fingers for Lizzy. Her time for the fourth run was just fantastic. When Janine made a mistake right at the top, I thought that the door might just stay open for me.”
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