Melissa Hoar has battled fluctuating track conditions to top the Australian performances at the 2008 Skeleton World Championships in Altenberg, Germany.

Hoar finished in 12th position, recording a total time of four minutes 09.98 seconds for her four runs, 7.20 seconds behind gold medallist Anja Huber of Germany.

Fellow Sydney slider Emma Lincoln-Smith was two places behind in 14th place, 7.36 seconds behind the winner, while the third member of the Australian Institute of Sport team, Michelle Steele, was just one hundredth of a second further back in 15th place overall.

World Cup champion Katie Uhlaender of the USA took the silver medal while Huber’s team-mate Kerstin Juergens climbed to the bronze medal with the quickest final run.

“The results are pretty solid when you consider that (the team) has never raced here before,” said AIS Skeleton Head Coach Terry Holland.

“The track conditions changed wildly during the race, getting progressively slower by a larger and larger margin as the race progressed.”

“A good example is Melissa Hoar’s first run that was 19th fastest followed by her second run which was fourth fastest for the day, neither of which are a good reflection of her current racing level.”
 
“The third and fourth run results on the second day of racing were also heavily affected by the weather and by the athletes’ start position.”

“The girls pushed well and drove hard.”