So far, Jaclyn Narracott has been a blank slate on an international level – now the 31-year-old from Brisbane won her first World Cup on the natural ice rink in St. Moritz. Already after the first run she had surprisingly led. In the decisive second run it got really tight after a rather mediocre start – but in the end Narracott was able to save 0.06 seconds ahead of the finish line.
Second-placed Bos can console himself with EM gold
Second place and thus the European title as the best European went to Kimberley Bos from the Netherlands. Best time in the second run would have almost been enough for the former bob pilot to win – but she can console herself with EM gold.
Third in the race was Canadian Mirela Rahneva (+ 0.66 seconds). Austrian Janine Flock (+ 0.80) and Italian Valentina Margaglio (+ 0.92) secured silver and bronze at the European Championships.
Hannah Neise narrowly missed out on EM bronze
Junior World Champion Hannah Neise (Winterberg) came in eighth and was the fourth best European. In the end, the 21-year-old was separated from the bronze place by half a second.
For seven-time world champion Tina Hermann (Königssee), who won the two World Cups in Altenberg in December, the race was just as disappointing as it was for Olympic bronze medalist and three-time world champion Jacqueline Lölling (Winterberg). Hermann (+ 1.59) came in tenth (European Championship classification: fifth place). Lölling, who was not able to keep up with the best, especially when it came to starting times, finished 15th in the first race and was twelfth (European Championship ranking: seventh place).
Lölling disappointed after missing Olympic qualification
For Lölling, who only had hopes of her second Olympic participation after her first podium finish last weekend at her home World Cup in Winterberg, she missed her stated goal of qualifying for the Olympics with this result. “It’s hard to find words for it”, said Lölling disappointed: “Too many things were missing today to be up front. Right now it’s just very bitter.”