Athletes across all the sliding sports, Ski Slopestyle and Short Track Skating were in action over the weekend, headlined by a top-6 finish in the women's Monobob and top 15 finishes across Skeleton and Short Track. Find out more in the weekend wrap below.
“Bobsled” Bree Walker Starts Season With Monobob Top-6
Bree Walker got her Monobob World Series Season off to a fast start, finishing sixth just 0.11 off the podium in Innsbruck, Austria.
In a tight race, Walker showed she is in the top echelon of Monobob pilots, with her combined time just 0.25 seconds behind event winner Elana Meyers Taylor of the USA.
"I'm very happy to start the season off with a top six place," said the 29-year-old Walker.
"I’m proud that I’m up there with the big nations holding my own so we will take this result, learn from the small mistakes that I made in the track and build the momentum! No-one is messing around and you can see that by how tight the field is, but it makes for really fun racing.
Ashleigh Werner also made her World Series Monobob debut, finishing in 19th. In the two-woman bobsleigh, Werner and Kiara Reddingius finished 19th, with Walker and Sarah Blizzard 22nd.
Narracott Starts Skeleton Season Strongly
Competing in her first World Cup event for almost 12 months, Jackie Narracott had a confidence boosting performance at the opening IBSF Skeleton World Cup in Innsbruck, Austria.
The 2018 Olympian finished 13th overall after her combined two runs, with a blistering second run (eighth fastest of all competitors) improving her ranking after sitting 18th after her first run.
“I’m happy with my result today”, said the 31-year-old. “My second run was much more indicative of my capability and I'm glad I got the chance to show it.
“Being back on the World Cup tour feels like home and I'm loving being back with friends. I missed it last year.”
The top ranked men’s skeleton pilot Nick Timmings had a mixed weekend at the North American Cup in Utah, finishing 10th in the first race to earn crucial IBSF Ranking points, however he finished 20th in race two after a snow storm affected conditions for the second half of the field.
Quarter Finals for Short Track Skater
Short Track skater Brendan Corey has gained his best result of the season, finishing 11th in the 1000m at the Short Track World Cup in Debrecen, Hungary.
The result marks the third straight top 20 World Cup finish for Corey, putting him in a strong position to earn a quota for Australia in the event for Beijing 2022.
Ferlazzo Tests Out Olympic Sliding Track
Dual Olympian luge racer Alex Ferlazzo got valuable experience on the Beijing 2022 Olympic track, finishing 27th in the opening round of the Luge World Cup, in Yanqing China.
The Townsville local spent the last week acclimatising to the track which will host the sliding events in February. Ferlazzo lodged a combined time of 157.310, finishing 2.7 seconds behind winner Johannes Ludwig of Germany, the reigning Olympic bronze medallist.
Freeski Slopestylers Hit Snow in Stubai
Abi Harrigan and Cameron Waddle started their FreeSki Slopestyle Seasons at the World Cup in Stubai Austria.
Abi and Cameron finished 28th and 49th respectively in very competitive fields at the World Cup event to get their seasons underway.
The pair will head to the US for the next stop on the tour in Colorado in early December.
