Michelle Steele has slid to another top ten finish in the skeleton World Cup, placing eighth in Park City, Utah.

Steele was lying in sixth position after the opening run down the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic track, but slipped back two places on her second run.

Her combined time of one minute 41.93 seconds was 1.5 seconds behind the winning time of Canadian Michelle Kelly.

Kelly, who claimed her second victory in a row, was 0.66 seconds ahead of USA slider Katie Uhlaender, the defending World Cup champion. Amy Williams of Great Britain collected the bronze.

Steele’s Olympic Winter Institute team-mate Melissa Hoar tied for 12th place with Emma Lincoln-Smith one position further back in 14th.

Steele currently sits in eighth place on the World Cup rankings on 344 points, with Lincoln-Smith in 12th place on 264 points and Hoar in 15th place on 216 points. Kelly leads the standings on 450 points, 50 ahead of Williams, with Canadian Melissa Hollingswort-Richards in third position on 394 points.

The next event of the season is in Lake Placid, New York, on December 14.

Over in Europe, Teniele Richards has competed in her first Intercontinental Cup, finishing in 14th place in Koenigssee, Germany in a time of one minute 43.99 seconds.

Development team-mate Lucy Chaffer was two places further back in a time of 1:45.13.

Richards' time was 3.84 seconds behind the winning mark of 1:35.95 set by Monique Riekwald of Germany. Silver went to Canadian Lindsay Alcock, while another German, Julia Eichorn, took bronze.

Intercontinental Cup competition is rated below World Cup but above Europa Cup, and it was the strongest field the Australians have come up against.

Riekwald is a World Cup medallist, Alcock is a former World Cup winner, while Eichorn has posted several top five results.

The Development Team will now take a month-long break from competition before resuming in North America on January 12.