Joy for Britain as Lizzy Yarnold wins the nation's first Sochi gold medal with brilliant display in the skeleton event
- Lizzy Yarnold has won Britain's first gold medal of this Winter Olympics
- Beat American Noelle Pikus-Pace by almost a second to take the win
- Yarnold handed a Valentine's card by boyfriend and coach James Roach
- Family and friends wept at the side of the track as she took gold
- It is Britain's second consecutive gold in the skeleton after Amy Williams won at the 2010 Vancouver Games
By JONATHAN MCEVOY and CHRIS PLEASANCE
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Lizzy Yarnold has won Britain's first gold medal of the Winter Olympic games, beating American Noelle Pikus-Pace by almost a second.
The 25-year-old, from Sevenoaks, Kent, claimed Britain's second successive gold medal in the skeleton, after Amy Williams won gold in the 2010 Vancouver Games.
The medal marks Britain's 10th gold in Winter Olympic history, and the second medal of Sochi so far.
Lizzy Yarnold has won Britain's first gold medal of the Sochi Winter Olympics in the skeleton
With a time of 58.06, she beat American Noelle Pikus-Pace by just under a second
Victorious: Yarnold crosses the finish line 0.97 seconds ahead of her closest rival to claim the medal
Following her run Yarnold said the win was going to take a while to sink in
Following the win, a jubilant Yarnold told the BBC: 'I don't think it's going to sink in for a long time.
'The fourth run I was totally relaxed and went out and enjoyed it. It was a bit of a messy run but I'm thrilled to get here after working so hard for the past five years, which makes it all worth it.
'I'm pleased that I could show the world what I'm capable of. I wanted to do myself justice and I can't believe I did it.
'It's also lovely as it's Valentine's Day, so it has something romantic about it as well.
Valentine: Yarnold was handed a valentine's card during the flower ceremony after her win
Young love: James Roach gives his golden girlfriend a kiss during the celebrations
Team Yarnold: As well as being her boyfriend, Roach is also Yarnold's coach
'My mum and dad and my sisters are here and I couldn't have done it without them or the Team GB skeleton team. I'm Olympic champion!
'I believed in myself and put in the hard work and dedication before we came here.
'(My advice to anyone watching is) follow your dreams and never limit yourself to what you can achieve.
Yarnold grew up in Kent and competed in sport from a young age, taking part in the heptathlon while she was at school, and picking up medals for her sporting achievements.
However she started training for the skeleton in 2008, after being headhunted by UK Sport programme Girls4Gold.
Support: Yarnold's family were there to see her win, including sister Katie, father Clive and mother Judith
Yarmy army: Yarnold was watched over the line by her parents, friends and fans
Tearful moment: Fans, friends and family of Yarnold wept and she crossed the finish line in Sochi
Yarnold's win brings Team GB within one medal of their target for the Games, after Jenny Jones won bronze in the snowboarding slopestyle on Sunday.
British skeleton athletes have a proud record, claiming a medal in each of the six Olympic Games the sport has featured in, the first being in 1928.
Last month Yarnold won the Skeleton World Cup title after setting a British record of seven podium finishes in a season.
Yarnold said the final run was a bit shaky, but that she had been relaxed and enjoyed it
Time lapse: A trick of photography captures a perfect turn by Yarnold which would have passed in milliseconds in real life
Making it look easy: With a commanding overnight lead, it would have taken a major error today to rob Britain of the title
However, the event was nearly mired in controversy last night after the Australian camp lodged an official complaint about what they believe is a secret Russian training venue in the mountain forests above Sochi.
Under Olympic rules, training facilities inside the Games cordon must be made available to all competing nations rather than confined to a single team.
A well-placed source who asked not to be named suggested the secret hideaway replicated the start of the track. If so, that would be especially beneficial to the Russians because the start is as important to a slider as to a 100m runner.
Yarnold’s lead after two of the four runs stood at 0.44sec over America’s Noelle Pikus-Pace in second place and 0.5sec over the top Russian, Elena Nikitina, in third. The times of all four runs — each less than a minute — are aggregated.
Convert: As a schoolgirl she competed in the pentathlon while still a teenager (left), and then converted to the skeleton in 2008 before winning gold today
Sporty: Yarnold (centre) collects a Sport Achievement Award aged just 15. Also pictured is Hannah Jelfs (left and Amy Barford (right)
Making of a champion: Yarnold, who trained for five years to win the skeleton, competes in the long lump during an athletics meet in 2007
Skeleton master: Lizzy took a commanding overnight lead in the skeleton, before clinching victory today
It was also alleged the secret base was used between runs by the Russian competitors on Thursday.
Yesterday Yarnold revealed the inspiration behind the name of the skeleton sled she calls Mervyn.
Although the sled is made from state-of-the-art carbon fibre, the nickname is of humbler origin, inspired by a 61-year-old retired insurance underwriter from Surrey named Mervyn Sugden.
Mr Sugden first met the skeleton slider when she took a summer job at his company Hardy Underwriting to help fund her training, and impressed with her story, he has sponsored her ever since.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Mr Sugden said: 'I heard rumours from some of the younger members of staff that we had a potential Olympian in our midst... I went over for a chat and she was so compelling that I just handed her an envelope with some money in it and said, ‘I hope that’s what you need to get you on your way'.'
Home crowd: Pupils at St Michael's School in Otford, Yarnold's former school, cheer the athlete on
Winning moment: Yarnold's victory ensures Britain's second successive gold in the skeleton
Extra practise: Other countries are worried that Russia has a secret training base in the mountains
'It's one of those moments you get where you can give a little bit and hopefully make a difference,' he added.
On Thursday, in warm conditions which saw a group of Canadians walk around bare-chested, Yarnold was the coolest competitor about. She observed her usual patterns of listening to music and napping between runs.
Her first 80mph descent immediately put her in charge. Her second run kept her there. ‘I was relaxed as soon as I got to the track,’ said the 25-year-old.
‘As soon as I stepped on to the start line my coach really settled me. Once I started, everything felt so natural and I loved it.
‘I don’t feel the pressure, I’ve not been thinking about other people’s expectations because I’ve got such high expectations of myself anyway.
On Sunday Jenny Jones won Britain's first medal of the Games, with a bronze in the snowboard slopestyle
Jones (right) claimed the win after an Austrian competitor Ann Gasser fell over on her final run
With Yarnold's gold added to Jones' bronze, Team GB is now just one medal off of its three medal target
‘I’ve tried lots of different things in training and brought that through into competition. I didn’t get curve 14 on the first run right and it’s an uphill section so that bled my time. But the first and second runs are the fastest I’ve ever gone. It’s not a bad day.’
Pikus-Pace, highly fancied coming into the Olympics but suffering a bad back, said: ‘It is hers to lose, I guess.’
Not everyone was quite as gung-ho as that. Nigel Laughton, GB team leader, called the margin a ‘good lead but not insurmountable’.
The atmospherics will be different on Friday — Riviera conditions giving way to black skies and floodlights and adding a further frisson of excitement to the drama unfolding on the icy, twisting descent. None will feel the tension more than the travelling ‘Yarny Army’, comprising Yarnold’s friends and family.
Yarnold was the day’s top British performer, eclipsing Shelley Rudman, the skeleton world champion, who struggled with the fast technical course and ended the day in 11th place.
Creditable: James Woods finished in a respectable fifth place in the Skiing slopestyle final on Thurday
Another letdown for those of us watching was James Woods’ marginal failure to win a medal in the ski slopestyle. He seemed thrilled not only to have finished fifth, despite so painful a hip injury that it crossed his mind he might need to withdraw, but simply to be part of the jamboree.
No British male skier has ever been placed as high as Woods at an Olympic Games.
Congratulations to all the British slopestylists. Five out of six have made it into the top 10 here. Jenny Jones, has won the country’s only medal of these Games, a bronze.
Now over to Yarnold to add the bullion. ‘It’s as good as it gets,’ she said. Not quite. God willing, Russian skulduggery notwithstanding, that comes on Thursday night.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2559394/Joy-Britain-Lizzy-Yarnold-wins-nation-s-Sochi-gold-medal-brilliant-display-skeleton-event.html#ixzz2tLRrNytp
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