Janine Flock captures women's skeleton gold in Cortina
On Saturday (ET) Austria’s Janine Flock delivered a career-defining performance, claiming the Olympic women’s skeleton singles title with a display of near-perfect consistency. At 36, Flock not only secured her first Olympic medal but also gave her country its first podium finish in women's skeleton.
Redemption and clinical consistency
Flock, who led into the final run eight years ago but slipped to fourth in Pyeongchang, made no mistake this time. She produced four steady runs that left little room for error — all within six hundredths of a second of one another — and closed with a 57. 28 on the final descent. That final run sealed gold after a night of calm, technically sound driving on a demanding Cortina track.
Podium and close finishes
Germany supplied the rest of the podium. Olympic debutant Susanne Kreher took silver, finishing three-tenths behind Flock, while Jacqueline Pfeifer earned bronze and added another Olympic medal to her collection. Hannah Neise, the Beijing champion, came up short of the podium and placed fourth. The margins were slim and the field proved tightly matched across all runs.
Starts were shaky, lines were immaculate
Flock’s victories this week were notable because her starts were regularly among the slowest in the 25-woman field. Rather than panic, she relied on impeccable line choice and a composed ride through the technically challenging upper half of the course to make up lost time. Those strengths underlined a mature, tactical approach: when the early push failed to gain ideal momentum, her sled work did the catching up.
Other storylines from Cortina
Belgium’s overall World Cup champion, who entered the Games with high expectations, finished sixth after a disappointing week. A human-interest subplot saw a married couple racing in the same Olympic event: Nicole Silveira of Brazil finished 11th while her wife, a top contender from Belgium, placed sixth. Those cross-national ties added an emotional layer to an already dramatic competition.
What’s next for the skeleton program
The skeleton schedule now turns to the mixed-team relay, set to close the Olympic sliding program on Sunday (ET). Teams from Germany and Britain will be among the favorites, with momentum shifting after the men’s singles results. The relay will provide a final chance for nations to showcase depth and for athletes to round out their Games with team glory.
Flock’s win rewrites a long chapter for Austria in Olympic sliding sports. At 36 she becomes one of the oldest champions in the women’s event, transforming a near-miss eight years earlier into the ultimate comeback: steady nerves, meticulous runs and the red-white-red celebration at the finish.
