USA's Noelle Pikus-Pace Gets Silver in Skeleton

Britain's Lizzy Yarnold won the season's first race on a technicality.

The season's last race, there was no argument.

Yarnold won the Olympic women's skeleton gold medal Friday night, a victory that puts the 25-year-old unquestionably atop her sport, probably for years to come. Her four-run time was 0.97 seconds faster than silver medalist Noelle Pikus-Pace of Eagle Mountain, Utah, who entered retirement by exorcising the memory of letting a medal slip away in Vancouver four years ago.

Yarnold, who also won the World Cup overall title this season, claimed Britain's first gold at the Sochi Games. Her time was 3 minutes, 52.89 seconds, and the final trip down the track was a mere formality, given that she already had a 0.78-second edge over Pikus-Pace and merely needed to avoid a giant mistake.

It didn't happen. The fourth run was like all the others - flawless.

She grabbed a British flag, hopped near the finish line, embraced teammate Shelley Rudman and seemed to just never stop smiling.

Elena Nikitina of Russia won the bronze, another 0.44 seconds off the pace and just 0.04 seconds ahead of Katie Uhlaender of Breckenridge, Colo., who took fourth for her top Olympic finish.

The Lizzy-vs.-Noelle rivalry was back and forth all season, starting with the World Cup opener in Calgary where Pikus-Pace crossed the line first and was originally announced as the winner, before Yarnold was awarded the victory after race officials said the American used too much tape on the handle of her sled.

That decision played a huge role in deciding the World Cup title. From there, Pikus-Pace set her sights on closing out her sliding career with an Olympic medal - which really the only thing that lured her from retirement two years ago, especially since a trip to the podium in Vancouver was lost when she made a mistake in Curve 2 of her final run at the 2010 Olympics.

And when she crossed the line Friday night, knowing hardware was hers, she flashed a megawatt smile. Retirement, she said, would be about spending time with her family, and she couldn't wait to get started, hopping over the track wall to join her husband and children for hugs and kisses - her first, ever, as an Olympic medalist.

Then she waved to fans.

Waving goodbye, essentially.

Yarnold, she's basically just saying hello now.

She announced herself as the next big thing in skeleton two winters ago, winning two of her first four World Cup races. A year ago, she vaulted to No. 4 in the World Cup rankings, and inconsistency kept her from rising even higher.

This season, she figured it all out. World Cup champion. Olympic champion. And her top rival is retiring.

Yarnold covered her face, almost in disbelief, on the flower podium afterward. Pikus-Pace wept softly through her smile, and was the last to leave the stand, seeming almost unsure where to go next.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us