Lizzie Yarnold has been nominated for Sportswoman of the Year
Friday 6 November 2015 13:26, UK
Lizzie Yarnold, the Sochi Olympic champion, accomplished a career ‘Grand Slam’ this year with victories at world and European level.
Within the space of four weeks, Yarnold underlined her status as the No 1 skeleton competitor in the world.
In February, the 26-year-old won gold at the European Championship in Austria, a few days after her World Cup race victory on the same track. Austria's Janine Flock, the defending champion, had to settle for silver, while Britain's Rose McGrandle took bronze.
When it came to the worlds in March in Winterberg in Germany, Yarnold dominated once more, beating Jacqueline Loelling by 0.67 seconds.
Yarnold, who had won bronze at the 2012 world championships and was fourth the following year, first clocked a track record of 57.44sec in her first run. The next day she posted a run of 57.42sec.
Her victory came in a combined time over four runs of three minutes 49.95 seconds.
At the end of the season, Yarnold had to relinquish her hold of the World Cup. After nine events had been completed, she finished just 20 points behind Flock.
Yarnold won five times from eight appearances, more than any competitor. Flock won just once from nine appearances but her consistency gave her the advantage.
On September 22, Yarnold said she would take a break from the sport after feeling exhausted and emotionally fatigued from competition and training.
