Jackie Narracott has created history to become the first Australian to win a World Cup gold medal in skeleton, or any sliding sport, emerging victorious with a miracle on ice performance in St Moritz, Switzerland.
Competing on the spectacular hand cut ice at the natural St Moritz track, the 2018 Olympian had an amazing first run to break the track record with a time of 1:08.72 seconds to shock the field.
With nerves of steel as the final competitor in the second run, Jackie put down another amazing performance with the second fastest run of the round to cross the line in first place with a two-run combined time of 2:17.56 seconds, 0.06 seconds ahead of second place finisher and new World Cup champion Kimberley Bos of the Netherlands, with Mirela Rahneva of Canada 0.66 seconds behind Jackie in third.
“I knew today I had the potential to go fast but didn’t think quite that fast,” Jackie said.
“This has been going for so long, I’m just like there are no words, it’s a perfect day in a perfect place.
“I really hope this might be the catalyst to get a few more girls in the sport and hopefully some more funding so we can have a coach and be competitive. We are proving this year that we have the athletes, it’s just having the foundations behind us to give us a chance.”
The breakthrough win smashes the 31-year-old's previous personal best World Cup finish of seventh place, which she achieved in Lake Placid, USA in 2016.
The Queenslander will now return to her overseas base in the United Kingdom to prepare for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.
