SKELETON/ BOBSLEIGH/ LUGE: Australian sliders delivered more solid performances over the weekend in their final competitions before the Christmas break.

Skeleton

West Australian Lucy Chaffer was the best placed of the Australian skeleton athletes competing at the FIBT World Cup taking place in Lake Placid, home of the 1932 and 1980 Olympic Winter Games. The thirty-year-old finished 11th in her first event and 16th in the second event the following day.

World Cup bronze medallist, Michelle Steele finished immediately behind Chaffer in the first event finishing in 12th position. The women have both dropped slightly in their FIBT ranking points, Chaffer from 7th to 10th and Steele from 3rd to 13th, but are well placed to qualify for the Games.  Elizabeth Yarnold of Great Britain maintains her number one ranking.

Thirty-one-year-old John Farrow finished in a time of 55.19 seconds in his first run, 1.3 seconds behind the winner Matthew Antoine of the USA. His time was just outside the top 20 and thus he only competed in the first run, finishing in 22nd place overall.

"This was a poor performance for me on a track I know I can do better on," Farrow posted on Facebook.

"I hope to pick up the results for you all in the second half of the season and thanks for all the support.”

Bobsleigh

Two-time Olympians Astrid Radjenovic and Jana Pittman are producing consistent results in the women’s 2-man bobsleigh. Radjenovic and Pittman finished in 15th place behind race leaders Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse of Canada. They were just 1.18 and 0.75 seconds off the pace in their first and second runs and are now ranked 21st on the FIBT ranking list.

In the men’s bobsleigh, pilot Heath Spence steered teammates Gareth Nichols, Duncan Harvey and Lucas Mata to 22nd place in the 4-man bobsleigh. They finished .99 seconds behind the winning team of the USA piloted by Steven Holcomb.

In the 2-man event, Spence and Harvey finished in 23rd and 25th position in their first and second events. Outside the top 20, they missed out on competing in the second runs on both occasions. Both events were won by the USA team, piloted by Halcomb.

Luge

On the other side of the country, at the Luge World Cup in Park City, Alex Ferlazzo continued his ‘best Australian placed’ record.

Ferlazzo finished in 29th position, +1.729 behind the winner Stephen Fedorov of Russia. Teammate Daniel Newton finished in 34th position in a time of 47.685 seconds.

West Australian Ashley Cooney, Australia’s lone female luge competitor finished in 32nd place, in a personal best time of 45.896, 2.051 behind the race leader Kimberley McRae of Canada.

“Last race for the first half of the season done and dusted!” Cooney said.

“I got a PB so I am over the moon! I may not be the fastest slider but I tried my hardest.”