Shropshire Star

Yarnold’s eager to make the dream of three British skeleton medals come true

The British pair are lying third and fourth going into the final two runs.

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Lizzy Yarnold held her breath and had a dizzy spell as she surged into contention to defend her Olympics skeleton title in Pyeongchang.

The Sochi 2014 gold medallist is in third place at the halfway stage of the four-run, two-day competition, 0.10 seconds behind leader Jacqueline Loelling of Germany.

Great Britain team-mate Laura Deas is a further 0.07secs adrift of Yarnold in fourth as the dream of three skeleton medals in two days continued, following Dom Parsons’ surprise bronze in the men’s event earlier on Friday.

Yarnold led by 0.08 after a track record on the first run, but afterwards told a British official she felt “dizzy”, later attributing the funny turn to having a common cold and the chill in the Pyeongchang air.

“With the cold and the dust I’ve had a sore throat for about a week now and a bit of build up in my sinuses,” Yarnold said.

“I forgot to breathe going down the run. So for the second run I just really relaxed into the race and made sure I was breathing properly.

“It’s really cold out here. It’s a winter of course but you have to remember you are travelling at 80mph down a really fast track.

“Taking my time and having a breather at the end of the run is important.

“I don’t think it was connected with any of the previous dizzy spells I suffered. I just need a good night’s sleep.”

Lizzy Yarnold had a dizzy spell at the end of her first run
Lizzy Yarnold had a dizzy spell at the end of her first run (David Davies/PA Images)

Yarnold, who was ninth fastest on the second run, is bidding to become the first Briton to successfully defend a Winter Games title when the two concluding runs take place on Saturday.

She added: “It’s a great position being in third, especially with Laura being in fourth and having her so close.

“We’ll go back and have a cup of tea and a chat about what we can do to make sure we’re both on the podium.

“Getting three British Olympic skeleton medals here is just more than we could ever have dreamed of.

“But we did dream of it and we challenged ourselves and pushed ourselves. Hopefully we can make it come true.”

Laura Deas is fourth in the women's skeleton at the halfway stage
Laura Deas is fourth in the women’s skeleton at the halfway stage (Mike Egerton/PA Images)

She attributed the mistake to nerves, but was full of confidence after the second-fastest second run of all.

Deas said: “I left myself with a few things to improve for the second run, which is actually quite a nice position to be in, to go into the second run knowing there’s speed to be found.

“I was pleased with that and to be sitting less than a tenth of a second outside a medal, I’m so pleased with that.”

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