SKELETON: Australia’s lone female skeleton athlete Jaclyn Narracott is on a mission to secure an outright berth in the twenty starters for the Women’s Skeleton at PyeongChang.
Her quest begins Friday November 9th in Lake Placid, USA in the first of four qualifying World Cups where all spots are available, and no rider has accrued points from the previous season.
“There’s nineteen quota spots up to grabs, plus one for Korea,” Narracott said.
“Oceania and Africa are guaranteed one as long as you’ve met the qualifying criteria and be inside the top 45 but I want to make it into that top twenty.
“If I qualify in my own right then the continental representation rule doesn’t apply, which is what I am planning to do, as hard as that is going to be.”
All current World Champions and overall World Cup winners from last season will be competing among the 22 countries in the opening World Cup races in Lake Placid to accrue the necessary points for Olympic qualification.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BaIk7gTl0dS/
“It’s a big fight between five or potentially six girls in the top ten going for between two and four spots. It’s going to be hard because I am currently outside that top ten, but I am capable.”
Narracott’s chances of a top result have been boosted with the provision of Canadian Olympic and World Cup coach Rob Derman by the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation.
“This year, the IBSF governing body are providing a coach for World Cups for the first time for small nations. It’s amazing.
“Having another pair of eyes and consistent video is fantastic. Most of the years before this, I haven’t had a camera so to have this consistent voice makes a big difference.”
Also on her team is Queensland Academy of Sport gym coach Chris Gaviglio and USA sprint coach Rob Ellchuck.
Narracott is currently ranked 23rd in the world with a 17th place in the last season’s World Championship and best World Cup performance of 13th in Germany. Her best season was in 2015/16 with seventh World Cup placing and World ranking of 20th.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BbKwcUalYAk/
The QAS athlete comes from a distinguished Olympic background with her uncle Paul Narracott one of the few athletes to have competed at both Summer and Winter Olympics – as a sprinter in Los Angeles 1984 and Bobsleigh in Albertville in 1992.
“Uncle Paul’s advice was to have fun and if the fun stops and you’re not liking what you are doing, there’s no point.
“You need to make sure you’ve done everything you can do and make sure that by the time we get to February I’ve done everything in my power to make sure the race goes well as it can. If it does, great - if not… that’s life,” Narracott said of Paul’s advice.
If her uncle’s achievements spurred Jaclyn on, it was also Australia’s other high performing skeleton athlete Emma Lincoln-Smith who was also able to lend a helping hand.
“Jackie came along into the program just as I was leaving but from what I know about her she is also a hard worker,” Lincoln-Smith said.
“She has come to me a few times asking for advice, which I think is a really great asset and it’s necessary in this sport to ask for help. She has come a long way and I’m also really excited to see what she does in Korea and think she can surprise a lot of people.”
The track in Korea is right down Narracott’s alley.
“I love it. It’s unique to any other track on the world but maybe not quite as fast as we hoped.”
Each skeleton athlete has access to the Olympic track and is where Narracott prepared for the first World Cup in Lake Placid, along with around forty other skeleton riders from around the world.
“We’ve got three more International Training Periods and the opportunity to have a minimum forty runs before the Olympics on the actual track,” she explained.
“Corner two is like no other in the world. It’s basically a flat wall and laid back. Generally the corners are round and for most of the corners on the Olympic track they are but corner two is not, which is a good a thing.
“The test event back in March was good and I finished mid-field. The main thing is getting time on the track and learning the track.
“This is my sixth year sliding and I am now consistently able to put the sled where I want and when I want.”
“It’s all about detail now. Being able to smooth things out and not be so abrupt with turns. It’s like a dance - the flow and the rhythm and every track is different.
“The whole point of skeleton is to slow the sled down the least amount of time possible and keep going forward. Corners are designed to slow you down, so it’s about maximising the speed coming out of the corner.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BatDyYDFaE9/
As the PyeongChang Games loom, Narracott is excited.
“I can’t wait. The biggest part is realising that childhood dream and emulating Uncle Paul.”
The four Skeleton World Cup begin on November 9 and conclude on January 13.
A live stream of the Skeleton & Bobsleigh Lake Placid World Cup is available here.
Learn more about skeleton and Australia's skeleton Olympic history here.
Belinda Noonan
OWIA
