Jaclyn Narracott (born 5 November 1990) is an Olympic Silver medallist Australian skeleton racer who competes on the Skeleton World Cup circuit.
Jaclyn is the first Australian to win a medal in the Skeleton event at an Olympic Games.
She won a silver medal at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics by lying face down on a sled and travelling at 130 km/h with no brakes over a twisting icebound course.
The gold medal winner was only .2 of a second ahead of Jaclyn.
Jaclyn grew up in Bracken Ridge and although she is based in the United Kingdom, home is Redcliffe with her parents Roger and Cheryl Narracott.
Jackie Narracott’s Olympic dream came from stories about her uncle Paul Narracott who was the first Australian to compete at both a Summer and Winter Olympic Games. He ran in the men’s 100m and 200m at the Los Angeles Games in 1984 before participating in the two-man bobsleigh at Albertville 1992.
34 years after her uncle’s debut, Narracott made her own Olympic dreams come true as she represented Australia in the women's skeleton event where she finished in 16th place. Narracott showed incredible consistency at the 2018 Games with run times of 52.53, 52.76, 52.62 and 52.82 down the Alpensia Sliding Centre. The gold medal was claimed by Great Britain’s Lizzy Yarnold, Germany’s Jacqueline Loelling claimed silver while GB’s came in third.
The Queenslander has a strong athletics background; favouring the 100m, 200m, long jump and triple jump. She originally thought her Olympic dream would be fulfilled at the Summer Games, however she joined the Australian bobsleigh squad in Europe in 2011 where she met the national skeleton coaches who convinced her to make the switch.
Narracott took her first ride on a skeleton sled in 2012, she made her skeleton World Cup debut at the end of 2014 and her best result has been a 7th place finish at the Lake Placid World Cup in January 2016. Narracott has had several top-10 finishes at North American Cup events, including winning silver in Calgary in November 2016.
At the 2017 World Championships in Königssee, Germany, Narracott placed 17th followed by a 16th place finish at the Olympic Test Event and World Cup event in PyeongChang in March 2017. January 2018 saw Narracott record her best result in two years, finishing 7th at the St Moritz World Cup just weeks out from her Olympic debut.
The highlight of Narracott's 2018-2019 season was a top-10 finish at the Winterberg World Cup, before her season was cut short after competing in Innsbruck.
Narracott made a successful return to sport in 2019-2020, highlighted by a ninth place World Cup finish in Lake Placid, USA.
In a COVID impacted year, Narracott focused on training, basing herself for the international season at the 2018 Olympic Region in Korea. Before she headed to Korea, Narracott did compete in one World Cup event, performing well to finish in eighth place.
At the St Moritz World Cup in January 2022, Narracott created history to become the first Australian to win a World Cup gold medal in skeleton.
The breakthrough win smashes Narracott’s previous personal best World Cup finish of seventh place, which she achieved in Lake Placid, USA, in 2016, and will no doubt give Narracott plenty of confidence ahead of her second Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
Competing on the spectacular hand cut ice on the natural St Moritz track, the 2018 Olympian had an amazing first run breaking the track record with a time of 1:08.72 seconds to shock the field.
In the final run, Narracott put down another amazing performance with the second fastest run of the round to cross the line in first place with a two run combined time of 2:17.56 seconds, 0.06 seconds ahead of second place finisher and new World Cup champion Kimberley Bos of the Netherlands
At her second Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, Narracott made sporting history, thanks to an incredible silver-medal performance to records Australia's first ever sliding sport medal at an Olympic Games.
Narracott showed nerves of steel over the two days of competition to make Australia proud in a performance for the ages.
In the 2022-2023 season, Narracott recorded her best result of the season in Lake Placid, USA, narrowly missing the World Cup podium with a fourth place finish.
In a strong return to form competing in heavy snowfall on the Lake Placid track, on both runs Narracott had the third fastest times of the round, giving her a total time of 1:51.43 seconds.
Narracott was just 0.06 seconds off the podium, and 0.37 behind event winner Tina Hermann of Germany.
In St Moritz, Narracott achieved her best ever performance at an IBSF World Championships, finishing in 11th place..
Competing in the four run major championship format, Narracott's first two runs were her best, with both runs ranked the 10th fastest overall. Unfortunately Narracott slipped back with the 14th fastest run 3, and 13th fastest run 4, giving her a four run total time of 4:36.60 seconds, 3.03 seconds behind event winner Susanne Kreher of Germany.
Jaclyn Narracott is listed on the wall of the Redcliffe Wall of Fame:
A collection of portrait and information honouring the achievements of individuals who have influenced and shaped Redcliffe. The collection is in the Jetty Arcade at 139-141 Redcliffe Parade.
For a complete list of people who appear on the wall click on the following blog post: