Ten months had passed since Lizzy Yarnold performed an act of alchemy on a bob skeleton track in Sochi; transforming steel and ice into a Winter Olympics gold medal. She had not raced since. But in Lake Placid on Friday there was no sign of nerves or rust as she returned with a comprehensive victory to win the first World Cup race of the season.
Yarnold finished 0.77 seconds clear of the Canadian World Cup debutant Elisabeth Vathje after recording the fastest time in each of her two runs, with her fellow Britons Rose McGrandle and Laura Deas in sixth and 12th places respectively.
After Yarnold’s success in Sochi, her team-mates gave her a new nickname: OC – Olympic Champion – but there is no hint that a gold medal, her MBE or appearances on the chat-show circuit have changed her. After her victory she admitted: “With it being the start of the season I was a bit apprehensive that I wouldn’t be quick enough or think quick enough. There have been so many retirements that it’s not the same as before but these younger athletes are so good, so I knew I had to bring my best performance, which I did.”
She also perhaps has a more rounded appreciation of the dangers of scuttling down an ice-track at 85mph after crashing during pre-season training in Königssee, Germany. Luckily she was unscathed and returned to training the next day.
With hindsight she admits that she had become slightly complacent but the new World Cup season has brought Yarnold’s laser-like focus back. “I am in pretty similar shape to this time last year, which is fantastic,” she says.
“And mentally I am getting stronger and stronger.”
Yarnold can now deadlift 140kg – more than twice her body weight – from the floor for multiple repetitions, which should improve the sprint start so vital in skeleton, but she believes she can develop into a much better slider too. “I’ve learned a lot of lessons. By no means was I successful in every race last year. There were lots of mistakes. That’s what I like to focus on – not only the doing well bit but the things I need to improve on. Such as? “There are so many different tracks around the world, with different corners and ice conditions,” she says. “In terms of being the best slider, I’ve still got a few years to go.”
After Sochi Yarnold did not train for three months to allow her body and mind to heal and forget. She went on holiday for five weeks. She appeared on Jonathan Ross, who put to Yarnold her father’s suggestion she should become the “face of cucumbers” after her Olympic triumph – “No one has been in contact for any vegetable-based endorsements,” she says, sighing. “Although my nan did buy me a salad spinner” – and she was awarded an MBE, which she collected from the Queen at Windsor Castle last week.
So how did Queen Lizzy find Queen Liz? “She was brilliant fun,” Yarnold says. “She knew about skeleton. She knew it had been quite warm in Sochi and she wondered how they had found so much snow. She had a real sparkle in her eyes. She is a wonderful lady and I was overawed and overwhelmed.”
You’re a fan then? “Yes, it’s so hard to try to win races – so singing the national anthem on the podium always brings a tear to your eyes,” she says. “And you’re singing for her.”
Yarnold is proud to wear the Union flag on her sleeve in other ways, by choosing British-made outfits from small designers when she goes to award ceremonies. “It is quite exciting to dress up because it means I don’t have to be in my Lycra shorts all the time,” she says, smiling. “But the best thing is that I am supporting British companies and designers. Whenever I am wearing a dress or a headpiece it’s all been locally made. I am very proud to be British and I’m very proud of the industries we have here.”
On Sunday she will again be glammed up as one of the nominees for the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award – but for once winning is not really on her mind. “I’m just pleased that I have been put in the top 10 and it’s going to be a great night. To get four female nominations as well is fantastic. Hopefully one day we can get five women nominations and five men.”
Yarnold hopes women’s sport will be recognised further, with either England’s women’s rugby World Cup squad or cricketers winning team of the year. She believes the recognition of so many British athletes is another sign that dinosaur attitudes to women’s sport are dying out. “It will be great when we get to the point where we don’t need to have awards just for women, because women’s sport is equal to men’s. I think that will happen within the next decade or two.”
Typical Yarnold: leading the charge from the front. As in bob skeleton as in life, while most Britons are winding down for the year, she is revving up.
BBC Sports Personality of the Year is live from Glasgow on BBC1 and BBC1 HD at 8pm on Sunday 14 December.
