Queenslander Jaclyn Narracott leads the Winter Olympics skeleton field after two completed runs at the Yanqing sliding centre.
Narracott — who became the first Australian to win a World Cup gold medal in skeleton, or any sliding sport, in St Moritz in January — stunned the field with two superlative runs.
"It was so much fun," the 31-year-old said. "I was just completely in the moment … doing what I needed to do, not worrying about what happened, just what I needed to do.
"That's how I want to slide and how I slide best."
Narracott recorded times of 1:02.05 and 1:02.29 to lead Germany's Hannah Neise by 0.21 seconds heading into Saturday's final two runs.
"This is what dreams are made of," Narracott said.
"I had hoped to be in with the mix, but to be sitting on top is unreal."
Narracott — who has been preparing for the Games in the UK — said that, although her line through turn four on the track locals are calling the ice dragon needed "a bit of a clean up", she was otherwise very pleased with her times.
"Two more runs like that and, if I can stay calm and composed, what's gonna be tomorrow, is gonna happen and, we'll see."
Behind Narracott, the field is incredibly tight, with second to eighth place separated by just 0.32 seconds.
Narracott said the tightness of the field is what makes this race one of the most exciting at the Games.
"This was always going to be the race to watch," she said.
"All season, we've been tossing and turning. We haven't had the same podium [on the World Cup circuit] once. So, it was always going to be a really good race to watch, and [to] be a part of."
Narracott's third and fourth runs take place on Saturday evening at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre, with the third run set to start at 23:20 AEDT and the final, medal run, from 00:55 AEDT Sunday morning.
The overall time across all four runs will determine the medals.
