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'Can't believe it': Aussie shocks the world at Winter Olympics

Sam Goodwin
·Sports Editor
·4-min read
Jackie Narracott, pictured here in the women's skeleton at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Jackie Narracott is leading the women's skeleton at the halfway mark. Image: Getty/Channel 7

Australia's Jackie Narracott has stunned the world at the Winter Olympics, leading the women's skeleton event at the halfway stage.

Narracott is on the verge of creating her own piece of Australian Olympic history after stunning her rivals in Beijing on Friday.

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The 31-year-old Queenslander has a two-run combined time of two minutes, 04.34 seconds, placing her ahead of two athletes from traditional sliding powerhouse Germany - Hanna Neise and world champion Tina Hermann.

Neise is 0.21 seconds behind Narracott with the medals to be decided after two further runs on Saturday night, with eight women within 0.53 seconds of the lead.

“We are going to have an Australian leading at the halfway mark of the women’s skeleton. I can’t quite believe what I’m seeing,” Alister Nicholson said in commentary for Channel 7.

Australia has never medalled in any of the sliding events at a Winter Olympics.

"This is what dreams are made of," Narracott said.

"I was just completely in the moment ... doing what I needed to do, not worrying about what happened, just what I needed to do.

"That's how I want to slide and how I slide best.

"I had hoped to be in with the mix, but to be sitting on top is unreal."

Jackie Narracott, pictured here in action during the women's skeleton heats at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Jackie Narracott in action during the women's skeleton heats at the Beijing Winter Olympics. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images) (Adam Pretty via Getty Images)

Winter Olympics stunned by Jackie Narracott display

Narracott arrived at her second Olympics in career-best form, becoming the first Australian to win a skeleton World Cup gold medal after topping the podium at St Moritz, Switzerland last month.

She said she benefited from having her husband and coach - Dom Parsons, who won a bronze for Britain at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games - alongside her for the first time since October.

Parsons is with her in Beijing too, and the extra set of eyes is working wonders.

"All year, we were doing it via FaceTime and with video," said Narracott, who was 16th on her Olympic debut four years ago.

"To have him by my side, seeing the ice as I'm seeing it ... it's huge."

Danielle Warby tweeted of Narracott's display: “Look at her go! Jaclyn Narracott leads in the insanity... I mean skeleton!”

Nicholson also tweeted: “OMG. Jac Narracott leads the women’s skeleton at the halfway mark.”

In the skeleton, athletes use a small sled to race head-first down a frozen track, reaching speeds of up to 140 kilometres per hour.

Narracott's uncle Paul Narracott was the first Australian to compete at both a Summer and Winter Olympic Games.

He competed as a track sprinter at the 1984 Los Angeles Games before joining the two-man bobsleigh team at Albertville in 1992.

with AAP

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