Michelle Steele has finished in second place in an Intercontinental Cup competition in Lake Placid, as Australia’s four skeleton athletes battle it out for one of two places available at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.

Steele recorded a two run total time of one minute 52.45 seconds on the 1980 Olympic course, 0.18 seconds behind Canadian Sarah Reid.

The Hobart-based slider was second on the opening run, then slipped to fourth on her second run, but the combined time left her one hundredth of a second ahead of Great Britain’s Donna Creighton.

Steele’s AIS team-mate Lucy Chaffer was in eighth place, 1.04 seconds behind the winner.

In the men's event, Anthony Deane finished in 21st position after the first run, missing a place in the second run by one place.

Emma Lincoln-Smith and Melissa Hoar will tackle Germany’s Konigssee track in a World Cup competition this evening, Australian time.

Olympic Winter Institute