History was made overnight as Jackie Narracott won a World Cup gold medal in skeleton at St Moritz in Switzerland.
Competing on hand cut ice, the 2018 Olympian broke the track record with a time of 1:08.72 seconds on her first run.
Narracott was then the final competitor in the second run, and put down the second fastest run of the round to cross the line in first place with a two run combined time of 2:17.56 seconds, 0.06 seconds ahead of second place finisher and new World Cup champion Kimberley Bos of the Netherlands. Mirela Rahneva of Canada came in 0.66 seconds behind Narracott in third.
“I knew today I had the potential to go fast but didn’t think quite that fast” said the 31-year-from Queensland.
“This has been going for so long, I’m just like there are no words, it’s a perfect day in a perfect place.”
“I really hope this might be the catalyst to get a few more girls in the sport and hopefully some more funding so we can have a coach and be competitive. We are proving this year that we have the athletes, it’s just having the foundations behind us to give us a chance.”
The breakthrough win smashes Narracott’s previous personal best World Cup finish of seventh place, which she achieved in Lake Placid, USA, in 2016.
Narracott will now return to her overseas base in the United Kingdom to prepare for the Beijing Olympic Winter Games.
