Lizzy Yarnold secures third win of the season

Team GB had two great performances in the women's skeleton at Winterberg, Germany this afternoon.

The first was a great run from Rose McGrandle who climbed from her position of 15th after the first leg and as more and more women came down the run she wasn't bettered until Russian Olga Potylitsina in 10th place went ahead of her, but she didn't have to wait long to secure that top ten slot when the next slider Elena Nikitina RUS finished with a combined time that was 4 hundredths of a second down on the Brit.

The next person to make major gains on their first run was Germany's Marion Thees who was 6th after the first run, she saw the next two sliders unable to overcome her aggregate time. So with only the top three sliders to come she had a chance of a medal. However, those to come were three of the best in the world last year's world championship bronze medalist Sarah Reid CAN, and the co-leader silver medalist from last year's worlds Noelle Pikus-Pace USA and world leader this year Lizzy Yarnold GBR.

Yarnold in action today Picture from Bobsleigh and Skeleton TV

Reid first of all went into the leader's box after completing her run, though slower this time than Thees she had enough in hand from the first run. The co-leaders were both going for their third win in this season's world cup. Pikus-Pace opened up a gap over Reid of over half a second on the top before seeing it edge away from a few errors at the bottom. Her third of a second buffer after the first heat was reduced to a mere 6 hundredths by the time she crossed the line.

Then up stepped Yarnold in the yellow world leader's bib. Her start was faster than anyone else on the day, equaling the one Sarah Reid managed on the first run. But then she hit every timing split down the run in a time that was faster than anyone, including her first run had managed. In the end she was clean and smooth 0.35 secs faster on here second run and strengthening her grip on that worlds cup leader's position.