Skeleton 2018/Women's skeleton

Women's skeleton
General information
Sport	Skeleton 2018
Date	16-17 February 2018
Competitors	20 athletes
Venue	Alpensia Sliding Centre
Previous medalists
Gold	Lizzy Yarnold
Silver	Noelle Pikus-Pace
Bronze	Elena Nikitina
Conditions
Temperature	Day 1: -4°C / 24.8°F Day 2: -7°C / 19.4°F
Length	1376 metres
Height	117 metres
Medalists
	Lizzy Yarnold
	Jacqueline Lölling
	Laura Deas

The women's skeleton of Skeleton 2018 during the 2018 Winter Olympics was held on 16-17 February 2018 in the Alpensia Sliding Centre. With 20 athletes competing, the event was won by Lizzy Yarnold from Great Britain, with Jacqueline Lölling from Germany taking the silver medal and Laura Deas from Great Britain taking bronze.

Format

The competition exists out of four runs over two consecutive days. The competitor with the lowest aggregate time for all four runs is the winner.

Preview

Twenty athletes qualified for the event, with Great Britain's athletes Lizzy Yarnold (after winning Olympic gold in 2014) and Laura Deas being the main favorites, with German Jacqueline Lölling (Olympic gold at the Youth Olympics in 2012) close behind. Canada's Elisabeth Vathje was another medal contender, while outsiders included Dutchwomen Kimberley Bos, who won bronze at the Olympic test event, and Belgium's Kim Meylemans, who finished fifth at the Youth Olympics in 2012.

Both the oldest competitor Simidele Adeagbo and the youngest competitor Anna Fernstaedt make their Olympic debut. The continent of Africa is represented for the first time, with Nigerian rider Adeagbo representing it. Katie Uhlaender and Maria Marinela Mazilu are the only two athletes to have competed at least twice before, with Uhlaender even competing for the fourth time. Lizzy Yarnold was chosen to carry the British flag during the opening ceremony of Pyeongchang 2018, due to her performance during Sochi 2014, becoming the first British athlete to win a gold medal in skeleton.

Current Records

Record	Date	Nat.	Name	Time
TR	17 March 2017		Jacqueline Loelling	52.75

Summary

Run 1

Lizzy Yarnold succeeded in breaking the current track record with more than one second, with fifteen out of twenty riders finishing faster than the old track record. Despite having the second to slowest start, Jacqueline Lölling managed to ride to the second place, with Austrian Janine Flock close behind. Germany's other athletes Tina Hermann and Anna Fernstädt, despite having slow starts, managed to finish within 52 seconds as well, with Laura Deas finishing in exactly 52 seconds.

Run 1 Results
Rank	Nat.	Name	Time
1		Lizzy Yarnold	51.66
2		Jacqueline Loelling	51.74
3		Janine Flock	51.81
4		Tina Hermann	51.98
5		Anna Fernstaedt	51.99
6		Laura Deas	52.00
7		Lelde Priedulena	52.14
8		Kimberley Bos	52.33
8		Katie Uhlaender	52.33
10		Marina Gilardoni	52.34
11		Jane Channell	52.42
12		Elisabeth Vathje	52.45
13		Jeong Sophia	52.47
14		Mirela Rahneva	52.48
15		Jackie Narracott	52.53
16		Kim Meylemans	52.56
17		Kendall Wesenberg	52.77
18		Maria Marinela Mazilu	53.31
19		Takako Oguchi	53.82
20		Simidele Adeagbo	54.19

Run 2

Elisabeth Vathje rode the fastest time, just finishing above 52 seconds, and she was able to climb from 12th to 9th place in the provisional rankings. Laura Deas finished only 0.02 seconds behind her, climbing from 6th to 4th place, while Janine Flock and Jacqueline Lölling had a close contention for second, leaving just 0.02 seconds apart, in favor of Lölling. Lizzy Yarnold was only able to get the ninth time of the second run, dropping down to third place after the first day.

Run 2 Results
Rank	Nat.	Name	Time
1		Elisabeth Vathje	52.01
2		Laura Deas	52.03
3		Janine Flock	52.07
4		Jacqueline Loelling	52.12
5		Anna Fernstaedt	52.17
5		Lelde Priedulena	52.17
7		Kimberley Bos	52.26
8		Jane Channell	52.28
9		Lizzy Yarnold	52.30
10		Tina Hermann	52.31
11		Mirela Rahneva	52.33
12		Marina Gilardoni	52.35
13		Katie Uhlaender	52.40
14		Kim Meylemans	52.54
15		Jeong Sophia	52.67
16		Jackie Narracott	52.76
17		Kendall Wesenberg	52.96
18		Takako Oguchi	53.41
19		Maria Marinela Mazilu	53.47
20		Simidele Adeagbo	54.58

Run 3

Germany's Tina Hermann was able to get the fastest time of the third run, but wasn't able to gain positions in the rankings. Lizzy Yarnold was able to climb to second place, with the second-fastest time, only 0.02 seconds behind Janine Flock, who rode the fourth time of this run. Jacqueline Lölling dropped down to third, after getting the seventh time, but still within a 0.1 seconds deficit from the gold medal.

Run 3 Results
Rank	Nat.	Name	Time
1		Tina Hermann	51.83
2		Lizzy Yarnold	51.86
3		Anna Fernstaedt	51.88
4		Janine Flock	51.92
5		Laura Deas	51.96
6		Kimberley Bos	51.99
7		Jacqueline Loelling	52.04
8		Mirela Rahneva	52.06
9		Lelde Priedulena	52.09
10		Jane Channell	52.28
10		Marina Gilardoni	52.28
12		Katie Uhlaender	52.33
13		Kim Meylemans	52.34
14		Elisabeth Vathje	52.37
15		Jeong Sophia	52.47
16		Kendall Wesenberg	52.54
17		Jackie Narracott	52.62
18		Maria Marinela Mazilu	53.48
19		Takako Oguchi	53.62
20		Simidele Adeagbo	53.73

Run 4

Lizzy Yarnold broke her own track record from the day before, ensuring her of a gold medal, assigning Jacquline Lölling to second place, who got the third time of the last run. Janine Flock finished in the tenth time of the last run, dropping down to fourth place in the final rankings, missing out on a medal by only a 0.02 seconds difference with Laura Deas. Elisabeth Vathje, after having the fastest time of the second run, had the second time of the last run, although she wasn't able to win positions in the final ranking, staying ninth.

Run 4 Results
Rank	Nat.	Name	Time
1		Lizzy Yarnold	51.46
2		Elisabeth Vathje	51.82
3		Jacqueline Loelling	51.83
4		Tina Hermann	51.86
5		Laura Deas	51.91
6		Anna Fernstaedt	52.00
7		Kimberley Bos	52.01
8		Jane Channell	52.09
8		Lelde Priedulena	52.09
10		Janine Flock	52.12
11		Kim Meylemans	52.26
12		Jeong Sophia	52.28
13		Marina Gilardoni	52.46
14		Katie Uhlaender	52.55
15		Mirela Rahneva	52.65
15		Kendall Wesenberg	52.65
17		Jackie Narracott	52.82
18		Takako Oguchi	53.11
19		Maria Marinela Mazilu	53.66
20		Simidele Adeagbo	54.28

Results

Lizzy Yarnold defended her Olympic title, becoming the first British athlete to win two consecutive gold medals at the Winter Olympic Games. She became the most successful Olympic skeleton rider as the first athlete winning two gold medals in the sport. Behind her, Jacqueline Loelling and Laura Deas won a silver and bronze medal at their Olympic debuts, respectively. Janine Flock missed the podium on only two-hundredth of a second, with the other Germans Tina Hermann and Anna Fernstaedt within a second of Yarnold at their first appearance at the Olympic Games.

Result	Athlete	Nationality	Time
	Lizzy Yarnold	Great Britain	3:27.28
	Jacqueline Loelling	Germany	3:27.73
	Laura Deas	Great Britain	3:27.90
4	Janine Flock	Austria	3:27.92
5	Tina Hermann	Germany	3:27.98
6	Anna Fernstaedt	Germany	3:28.04
7	Lelde Priedulena	Latvia	3:28.49
8	Kimberley Bos	Netherlands	3:28.59
9	Elisabeth Vathje	Canada	3:28.65
10	Jane Channell	Canada	3:29.07
11	Marina Gilardoni	Switzerland	3:29.43
12	Mirela Rahneva	Canada	3:29.52
13	Katie Uhlaender	United States	3:29.61
14	Kim Meylemans	Belgium	3:29.70
15	Jeong Sophia	South Korea	3:29.89
16	Jackie Narracott	Australia	3:30.73
17	Kendall Wesenberg	United States	3:30.92
18	Maria Marinela Mazilu	Romania	3:33.92
19	Takako Oguchi	Japan	3:33.96
20	Simidele Adeagbo	Nigeria	3:36.78