CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy — Janine Flock has yet another chance at the gold medal that always seems to escape her grasp.
The 36-year-old Austrian — a four-time Olympian with no medals to show for it — held the midpoint lead in the women's skeleton race at the Milan Cortina Games on Friday night, with three Germans and two British sliders taking up the next five spots.
''I just tried to do what I've been doing for 20 years now, having a really good run, enjoying the run and enjoying what I'm doing," Flock said.
Flock — who found tons of speed at the bottom of the track in her second heat, something few sliders could manage — finished her two runs in 1 minute, 54.48 seconds.
Susanne Kreher (1:54.52), 2018 Olympic silver medalist Jacqueline Pfeifer (1:54.61) and reigning Olympic gold medalist Hannah Neise (1:54.85) hold the 2-3-4 spots for Germany, while Tabitha Stoecker (1:55.01) and Freya Tarbit (1:55.16) have the next two spots for Britain.
''I'm very happy about this result," Kreher said. ''I didn't have these great training runs, so I am a bit surprised that I was so good.''
For the U.S., Kelly Curtis is 10th at the midway mark and Mystique Ro is 17th. The final two heats of the event are Saturday.
If there was a designation for best women's skeleton slider without a gold medal from the sport's biggest races — worlds and the Olympics — Flock would hold that title with ease. Her resume is beyond impressive: she's a three-time World Cup overall champion with 15 World Cup race wins, 45 World Cup medals overall, and has silver and bronze medals from the world championships.
