After two years away from the her sport, skeleton racer Noelle Pikus-Pace is officially back after finishing second at worlds in St. Moritz Friday.
“What a great day,” the 2007 world champ said after her final run. “I felt so much better today and I am excited to be on the medal stand. This has already been such an amazing year.”
Pikus-Pace, who finished fourth at the 2010 Games, announced her desire to comeback to the sport last summer. She has already finished on the podium four times during the World Cup season, and helped the U.S. win gold in the team event earlier this week. But her silver in the individual race was what she need to prove she’s ready to compete in Sochi.
“I was really focused on being consistent... I’m really pleased with my results and I know I can be competitive with the best in the world. I’ve raised the bar for myself at this point and expect to be at the top.”
Pikus-Pace started a second off the lead Friday after opening heats of 1:09.99 and 1:10.04, but she posted the fastest times of the last two heats to finish behind only Great Britain’s Shelley Rudman.
“I’d be OK finishing second or even last if I knew I’d competed at my best, but it’s tough knowing I left something behind… I know what I’m capable of now, and it just makes me even hungrier to win next time.”