Melissa Hoar leads the Australian contingent after the opening day of the 2008 Skeleton World Championships in Altenberg, Germany.

On a day that saw some wildly divergent performances, Hoar is lying in 12th position after the first two runs of the four-run competition.

The Dalmeny 25-year-old only managed the 19th fastest time in her opening run, but then produced the fourth best time of the second run for a total time of 2 minutes 06.80.

Emma Lincoln-Smith was in 11th position after her opening run, but could only manage the 2oth fastest time in the second run to slip back to 15th place overall on a total time of 2:07.08.

The third member of the Australian Institute of Sport team, Michelle Steele, is in 17th place overall after placing 13th in the first run and 17th in the second. She has a total time of 2:07.16.

German slider Anja Huber was leading the field after the opening two heats on 2:02.47, with 2008 World Cup champion Katie Uhlaender of the USA in second place 0.29 seconds back. Michelle Kelly of Canada was in third position, 0.49 seconds off the pace.

The remaining two runs of the competition will be contested on Saturday.