SKELETON: Australian skeleton duo John Farrow and Jackie Narracott have kicked off their 2018 Olympic qualification campaigns, securing some solid results at the ISBF World Cup in Lake Placid, USA.
Queensland's Narracott was the first on the track on Thursday, finishing in 17th, with tough conditions presenting a challenge for the first World Cup of the season.
"Mondays time trial was cancelled due to warm weather, meaning we only had 4 runs instead of the usual 6," said Narracott.
"The race itself was a mixed bag for me.
"I slid well and was able to execute our plan on run 1 but unfortunately made 1 very costly mistake early in run 2 which caused me to drop 3 spots. It's always disappointing to drop spots but in reality that was the worst thing that happened in a race week full of positives."
22-year-old Narracott remained positive, noting this performance was her best World Cup result to date.
"The improvements next week will come from being able to execute our plan across both runs. I'm also looking to keep improving my push as it's still not where I'd like it to be."
Sochi Olympian, John Farrow took to the ice the following day and was overall happy with his season opener, +2.61 seconds off Lativa's Martins Dukurus who took the top spot.
"I had some great runs today. Two 18th place runs is solid but i ended up in 20th place," said Farrow who is balancing Olympic qualification and a newborn baby.
"20th is a key performance indicator for Olympic Qualification so its a great start to our 7 race process."
Farrow, the veteran of the sliding sport, was able to identify that it was his start times that let him down on race day.
"I have worked hard and had faster starts in practice this week so I am not sure what happened on race day.
"Maybe nerves or intensity created some bad form but its going to have to be a focus to make sure I get back to my complete performing best for the next qualification races."
Also flying the flag for Australian was Nicholas Timmings who finished in 29th place.
The Aussie skeleton athletes will now head across the American countryside, for next week's World Cup in Park City, Utah.
Ashleigh Knight
olympics.com.au
