(LEAD) German skeleton slider wins inaugural race at S. Korean Olympic track

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By Yoo Jee-ho

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea, March 17 (Yonhap) -- German skeleton slider Jacqueline Loelling won the inaugural race at the new South Korean Olympic venue on Friday.

Loelling captured the women's skeleton gold medal at the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) World Cup at Alpensia Sliding Centre in PyeongChang, host of the 2018 Winter Olympics lying some 180 kilometers east of Seoul.

The medalists were determined after two runs, and Loelling led the field with the combined time of 1:45.68. She had the fastest times in both the first run (52.93 seconds) and the second run (52.75 seconds).

Elena Nikitina of Russia finished second in 1:45.98, followed by Kimberly Bos of the Netherlands in 1:46.03.

This is the eighth and final IBSF World Cup of the season, and the women's skeleton kicked things off at the new track.

Loelling also clinched the overall World Cup title with Friday's victory. She arrived in PyeongChang as the leader with 1,366 points, 25 points ahead of fellow German, Tina Hermann.

Hermann finished in ninth place on Friday with the time of 1:46.56.

Mun Ra-young, the lone South Korean in the field, tied for 22nd in the first run at 54.35 seconds, and failed to qualify for the second run, open only to the 20 fastest sliders after the initial run.

The ongoing World Cup will continue with men's skeleton later Friday, women's bobsleigh and two-man bobsleigh on Saturday, and four-man bobsleigh on Sunday.

Mun, 21, won the overall title at the North American Cup, a second-tier IBSF competition, on the strength of two victories. She admitted to battling nerves in her third World Cup appearance of the season. She has yet to crack the top 20.

"I am not satisfied with this, and I made a lot of mistakes," she said. "Since this was a huge event, I was quite nervous and wasn't in my best form."

Mun blamed her poor race on her inability to handle the tough Curve 9, considered the most challenging part of the track that requires deft maneuvering.

"I lost a lot of speed there," Mun said. "I should've done better."

Even Loelling, the champion, said Curve 9 was "the most difficult point" of the track.

"I think I have to work on it to get a perfect line, and I didn't get it today," she said. "But it's fun. You can't say it's like another track in the world. I like it."

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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