These photos were taken during the first heat of the women’s skeleton race at the BMW IBSF World Cup at Lake Placid on November 9, 2017. All except the first were taken from the spectator side of the finish area; I missed the first competitor down the track, Ashleigh Fay Pittaway (GBR) while walking up to the finish. Start order was determined according to World Cup points totals, so the best athletes get the preferred start positions from 6th onward. The twenty fastest competitors made the cut into the second run.
Some of the competitors’ helmets and sleds have artwork on them, but others’ are simply blank or are used for advertising. I’ve tried to show some examples of each. The first photo shows one of the four forerunners, whose job is to make sure that the track is ready, after overnight maintenance, for the actual competitors; they start several minutes before the official race start, which for this race was 8:34 AM. (Skeleton races are always held first on a competition day because the heavier bobsleds tear up the ice, particularly in the finish area when braking.)
Skeleton forerunner passing the remote camera position
Maya Pedersen (NOR)
26th place in run 1
Takako Oguchi (JPN)
19th place in run 1
Laura Deas (GBR)
8th place in run 1
Lelde Priedulena (LAT)
10th place in run 1
British and German teams watch the next slider coming down the track
Janine Flock (AUT)
1st place in run 1
Kimberley Bos (NED)
15th place in run 1
Jacqueline Loelling (GER)
4th place in run 1
Jacqueline Loelling (GER)
Jacqueline Loelling (GER) wears the yellow bib of the World Cup points leader (since this is the first race of the season, based on last year’s results)
Lizzy Yarnold (GBR)
5th place in run 1
Jane Channell (CAN)
13th place in run 1
Mirela Rahneva (CAN)
6th place in run 1
Tina Hermann (GER)
9th place in run 1
Elisabeth Vathje (CAN)
3rd place in run 1
Kendall Wesenberg (USA)
16th place in run 1
Camera operator for IBSF TV
Elena Nikitina (RUS)
2nd place in run 1
new start record 5,07s
Kim Meylemans (BEL)
11th place in run 1
Savannah Graybill (USA)
12th place in run 1
Yulia Kanakina (RUS)
18th place in run 1
Katie Uhlaender (USA)
7th place in run 1
Russian athletes watching the TV monitor
IBSF TV producer standing next to a USABS staffer
Jaclyn Narracott (AUS)
14th place after run 1
Note the artwork on the bottom of Jackie Narracott’s sled — she’s one of the very few sliders to come from the southern hemisphere
Joska le Conte (NED)
25th place after run 1 — an uncharacteristically poor performance
Sophia Griebel (GER)
23rd place after run 1
Russian women are now taking notes
Box truck carrying sleds and some personnel back to the start
Renata Khuzina (RUS)
22nd place after run 1
Nozomi Komuro (JPN)
19th place after run 1
Maria Montejano (ESP)
24th place after run 1
