KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia – American Noelle Pikus-Pace is in position to medal after the third of four runs for the leaders in skeleton, sitting second behind only Great Britain’s Elizabeth Yarnold.
Pikus-Pace, a 31-year-old mother of two, covered the track at the Sanki Sliding Center in 58.25 seconds Friday evening, but lost ground to Yarnold, whose third run of 57.91 seconds set a track record and may have gone a long way toward locking up gold.
Pikus-Pace now trails Yarnold, whose cumulative time over three runs is 2 minutes, 54.80 seconds, by 0.78 seconds. The fourth and final run is scheduled for 11:50 a.m. EST, and the winner is the slider with the lowest total time over those four runs — the first two of which were contested Thursday.
Fellow American Katie Uhlaender entered the third heat in fourth place, just 0.14 of a second out of medal position. But Uhlaender was passed by Russia’s Olga Potylitsina, who posted a run of 58.13 seconds to Uhlaender’s 58.41. Uhlaender is now in fifth, 1.19 secodns behind Yarnold and 0.22 of a second behind Russia’s Elena Nikitina, who sits third.
Miller, Ligety err on side of caution, finish well behind in super combined
Photos from Day 7 | Daily TV schedule | U.S. medal winners
Even the Washington Nationals are fans of Olympic curling
Jenkins: Figure skating is ‘infinitely harder’ than ice hockey
Wise: Rooting against your wife on Valentine’s Day, an Olympic tradition
Analysis: Plushenko, a legend with an uneasy legacy
Easy wins by U.S., Russia set up dream match-up on Saturday
What’s it like to luge? | Extinct Winter Olympic sports
Aerialist Ashley Caldwell ready to break out new trick
Graphic: Winter speed demons (and curlers, too)
