From Pyeongchang, KOR
Feb. 16, 2018 – IBSF World Cup champion Jacqueline Lölling will carry a .02 second lead over Janine Flock going into the third heat of women’s skeleton at the 2018 Olympics.
The German champion never had the quickest run in either heat (second and fourth fastest, respectively), and had two of the slowest starts of the competition, but that was enough to take the lead over a tight field of women.
Coming into the second run, Lölling sat .08 behind 2014 Olympic champion Lizzy Yarnold. Lölling was her consistent self on the second run, moving into a narrow advantage over Flock, who moved into second from third.
Yarnold didn’t exactly struggle on her second run, but a ninth fastest run dropped her to third, only a tenth of a second behind Lölling.
“I’m really happy that the first two runs are done,” Lölling said of her nighit. “I was really nervous before the first one. I had a big mistake after Corner 4 into Corner 5, but I’ll fix it tomorrow.”
For Yarnold, she’s really happy with where she is in the standings, and is excited to be racing a teammate.
“It’s a great position being in third, especially with Laura (Deas) being in fourth. We’ll go back and have a cup of tea and a chat to see what we can do to get us both on the podium”.
Laura Deas, Anna Fernstädt, and Tina Hermann round out the top six.
It was a tough evening for the Americans, with Katie Uhlaender leading the way in 12th, while Kendall Wesenberg finished the evening in 17th.
“It was definitely not what I wanted to do. To miss Curve 2 in both runs was really disappointing,” Wesenberg said. “I don’t know what happened with 2, something about it’s not clicking with me.”
Canada got off to a disappointing start, but Elisabeth Vathje ripped off a second heat-fastest run to move up from 12th to eighth. Teammates Jane Channell and Mimi Rahneva will go into the second day of sliding in 11th and 13th.
For Vathje, the second run was redemption after a shaky first trip down the track.
“The second run felt really good. It was way more of what I was used to in training. I added some extra padding to my sled last night and couldn’t get my hands underneath me. I added some tape to my suit and it did the trick!”
Women’s skeleton will resume Friday, February 17 at 8:20 PM KST (6:20 AM EST) with runs 3 and 4.
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Jacqueline Lölling | GER | 7 | 51.74 | 52.12 | 1:43.86 |
| 2 | Janine Flock | AUT | 9 | 51.81 | 52.07 | 1:43.88 |
| 3 | Lizzy Yarnold | GBR | 14 | 51.66 | 52.30 | 1:43.96 |
| 4 | Laura Deas | GBR | 10 | 52.00 | 52.03 | 1:44.03 |
| 5 | Anna Fernstädt | GER | 8 | 51.99 | 52.17 | 1:44.16 |
| 6 | Tina Hermann | GER | 6 | 51.98 | 52.31 | 1:44.29 |
| 7 | Lelde Priedulena | LAT | 13 | 52.14 | 52.17 | 1:44.31 |
| 8 | Elisabeth Vathje | CAN | 4 | 52.45 | 52.01 | 1:44.46 |
| 9 | Kimberley Bos | NED | 17 | 52.33 | 52.26 | 1:44.59 |
| 10 | Marina Gilardoni | SUI | 16 | 52.34 | 52.35 | 1:44.69 |
| 11 | Jane Channell | CAN | 5 | 52.42 | 52.28 | 1:44.70 |
| 12 | Katie Uhlaender | USA | 12 | 52.33 | 52.40 | 1:44.73 |
| 13 | Mirela Rahneva | CAN | 11 | 52.48 | 52.33 | 1:44.81 |
| 14 | Kim Meylemans | BEL | 15 | 52.56 | 52.54 | 1:45.10 |
| 15 | Sophia Jeong | KOR | 2 | 52.47 | 52.67 | 1:45.14 |
| 16 | Jaclyn Narracott | AUS | 19 | 52.53 | 52.76 | 1:45.29 |
| 17 | Kendall Wesenberg | USA | 18 | 52.77 | 52.96 | 1:45.73 |
| 18 | Maria Marinela Mazilu | ROU | 1 | 53.31 | 53.47 | 1:46.78 |
| 19 | Takako Oguchi | JPN | 3 | 53.82 | 53.41 | 1:47.23 |
| 20 | Simidele Adeagbo | NGR | 20 | 54.19 | 54.58 | 1:48.77 |
