Euros silver for Stoecker

Tabby Stoecker won European Championship silver in the women’s skeleton in St Moritz on Friday morning.

Stoecker becomes the sixth British woman to win a continental championship medal since the event began in 2003, following in the footsteps of Olympic medalsits Shelley Rudman, Amy Williams and Lizzy Yarnold, plus Rose McGrandle and current team mate Amelia Coltman.

The 25-year-old former trapeze artist clocked a two-run time of 2 minutes 22.23 seconds at the spiritual home of sliding in Switzerland in the penultimate top-tier race before next month’s Olympic Winter Games.

The result means that, after an eight-year gap in podium places, GB have now won medals at every women’s European Championships in this current OIympic cycle, after Coltman claimed silver last season in Lillehammer and bronze the year before in Sigulda.

With the race also doubling as the sixth World Cup competition of the year, Stoecker placed fourth in that event, with Brazil’s Nicole Silveira and Kelly Curtis winning World Cup bronze and silver behind Belgium’s Kim Meylemans.

Stoecker moves up one spot in the Overall World Cup standings, now sitting fourth going into next Friday’s final race in Altenberg, Germany.

Coltman came 10th in the World Cup race and sixth in the European Championships in a time of 2 minutes 22.76 seconds.

Fellow Brit Freya Tarbit was seventh in the Europeans and 12th in the World Cup, finishing in 2.22.94 after going eighth quickest in the second run.

There is more skeleton action at 11am GMT when Matt Weston, Marcus Wyatt and Jacob Salisbury go for GB in the men’s competition, before the mixed team race takes place at 3pm.