Lizzy Yarnold and Rose McGrandle capped off a fantastic weekend for British Skeleton in Igls by winning gold and bronze medals in the rescheduled European Championships race, with Laura Deas finishing seventh. ...
Yarnold, who won gold in the World Cup race yesterday, was solid in her first run with a 5.56 start time and 54.52 as her run time, which meant she was race-leader at the halfway point.
The Kentish slider then put in a comprehensive performance in her second run, taking 0.10 seconds of her start and 0.20 off her run time to finish in 1:48.84 overall, 0.30 seconds ahead of Austria's Janine Flock, who is the current World Cup race leader.
On the podium, comparisons were drawn between Yarnold and Martins Dukurs, who has been so dominant in the men's event this year, which Yarnold was quick to play down, saying: “I try and look just like myself because I'm very proud to just be who I am and to be the best slider that I can be - it doesn't matter whether I've won Olympic gold or not, I'm just trying to be a better athlete.
The 26-year old added: “Being European Champion was a huge goal of mine, I desperately wanted to add that crown - that was one of the goals for the season, and the other one is the World Championships, so it's been a really, really good day!”.
Rose McGrandle also produced an impressive race as she won her first World Cup & European Championship medal, taking bronze over a tenth of a second ahead of Russia's Maria Orlova.
The Milton Keynes slider had two great starts, with times of 5.44 and 5.42, and she took over 0.10 seconds off her first run time to finish in 1:49.23 overall, sealing her first podium finish at the highest level.
After the race, McGrandle said: “I'm still in a bit of shock because this is completely new to me. I'm really pleased that I got a medal! it's a good one to do because obviously yesterday we had the World Cup race, and I didn't perform quite as well as I wanted, so its really good to have the second chance”.
“I was trying to piece together what I did yesterday, and I know I made some big mistakes hitting the exit on the way out of kreisel, and I felt like I improved on that today - the speeds were there, and it felt like the track was a bit quicker”.
Laura Deas also performed well as she secured the team's eighth top-10 finish of the weekend, as she came in seventh place. Deas was tied with McGrandle in fourth after her first run, and although she produced the fastest start time of the event in her second run (5.32) she couldn't quite find the speed to reach the podium.
Following the race, Head Coach of the World Cup squad, Eric Bernotas said: “It's been a fantastic week of work here in Igls, culminating in tremendous results. We had a challenging week in La Plagne last week but all the athletes and staff found ways to come back strongly from that.
“Racing all round from the guys and the girls this week was superb”.
Performance Adviser, Andi Schmid, also commented afterwards, saying: “It has been a phenomenal week. It was great to see Lizzy and Rose on the podium today and there have been top performances all weekend - Swifty coming in yesterday and finishing sixth was great for him. I'm very proud and happy for the whole team”.
British Skeleton's 2010 Olympic Champion, Amy Williams, was also out in Igls as she was filming with Lizzy Yarnold for Ski Sunday, and she spoke after racing, saying: “The British girls have done so well - Lizzy has obviously been great and I think she can dominate the sport for as long as she wants to, but for Rose and Laura it seems like it's clicking as well.
“Rose actually reminds me of myself as an athlete, because she always trains so well is a brilliant slider but when she gets into the race it's almost like she wants it too much, so for me it was emotional being with her after she won her medal.
“I've had a great week seeing old friends and to be out here for these results has made it even better. It's an exciting time for British Skeleton at the moment and everyone seems in a good place to end the season strongly. For now, everyone should pat themselves on the back and be really proud of themselves”.
Today's medals take Great Britain to exactly 200 across all competitions since the Winter Olympic Games in Turin, in 2006.
The World Cup now moves to Sochi for the final race of the tour, just over a year on from the Olympic Games at the same venue.
RESULTS - WORLD CUP, RACE 7, IGLS, AUSTRIA
WOMEN
|
Name
|
Start Time
|
Down Time
|
Top Speed km/h
|
Overall Time
|
|
1. Lizzy Yarnold
|
5.56
|
54.52
|
120.80
|
    Â
|
|
    Â
|
5.46
|
54.32
|
120.50
|
1:48.84
|
|
3. Rose McGrandle
|
5.44
|
54.68
|
120.00
|
    Â
|
|
    Â
|
5.42
|
54.55
|
120.20
|
1:49.23 (+0.39)
|
|
7. Laura Deas
|
5.33
|
54.68
|
117.90
|
    Â
|
|
    Â
|
5.32
|
54.98
|
115.80
|
1:49.66 (+0.82)
|