German skeleton slider Jacqueline Loelling won the inaugural race at the new South Korean Olympic venue on Friday.
Loelling captured the women's skeleton gold medal at the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation World Cup at Alpensia Sliding Centre in PyeongChang, host of the 2018 Winter Olympics lying some 180 kilometers east of Seoul.
 |
Jacqueline Loelling of Germany crosses the finish line in the women's skeleton event at the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation World Cup at Alpensia Sliding Centre in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, on March 17, 2017. (Yonhap) |
The medalists were determined after two runs, and Loelling led the field with the combined time of 1:45.68. She had the fastest times in both the first run (52.93 seconds) and the second run (52.75 seconds).
Elena Nikitina of Russia finished second in 1:45.98, followed by Kimberly Bos of the Netherlands in 1:46.03.
This is the eighth and final IBSF World Cup of the season, and the women's skeleton kicked things off at the new track.
Loelling also clinched the overall World Cup title with Friday's victory. She arrived in PyeongChang as the leader with 1,366 points, 25 points ahead of fellow German, Tina Hermann.
Hermann finished in ninth place on Friday with the time of 1:46.56.
Mun Ra-young, the lone South Korean in the field, tied for 22nd in the first run at 54.35 seconds, and failed to qualify for the second run, open only to the 20 fastest sliders after the initial run. (Yonhap)
