Austrian skeleton athlete Janine Flock won gold at the 2026 Olympic Games. At the age of 36, she became the oldest Olympic champion in women's skeleton.
On Saturday, February 14, the women's skeleton competition was held. The victory was won by Austrian athlete Janine Flock, who beat her closest competitor, Susanne Krecher from Germany, by 0.30 seconds.
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Flock took the lead in the competition from the very first run. The Austrian covered the course in 57.22 seconds, setting a new track record. After the first half of the race, Flock's advantage over Kreher was only 0.04 seconds, and the top three were rounded out by another German, Jacqueline Pfeiffer, who also broke the track record in her second attempt — 57.18 seconds.
Flock managed to maintain her lead in the second part of the race, increasing her lead over her rivals in the final minutes. She overtook Kreher by 0.30 seconds and Pfeiffer by 0.44 seconds.
Olympic Games-2026. Skeleton (women)
- Jeanine Flock (Austria) — 3:49.02
- Susanne Krecher (Germany) — 0.30 seconds
- Jacqueline Pfeiffer (Germany) — 0.44
With her victory at the 2026 Olympics, 36-year-old Flock became the oldest Olympic champion in women's skeleton history . Janine also became the first Austrian to win Olympic gold in the event.
The Austrian, who broke her streak of no podiums at the Olympics, succeeded at the fourth Games in her professional career – so far, the closest she came to the podium was in Pyeongchang 2018: she took 4th place, missing out on a medal in the last race (the gap from the “bronze” was only 0.02 seconds).
Flock's results at the Olympic Games
- Sochi 2014 — 9th place
- Pyeongchang 2018 — 4th place
- Beijing 2022 — 10th place
- Milan-Cortina-2026 — “gold”
“I can't believe it. It doesn't seem real now – it's a dream. I didn't know what my time was, I just knew I had four solid runs and hoped that would be enough.”
“We made history, didn't we? I'm so excited, I still can't believe it. I'm so happy and grateful that we finally did it,” Flock said after the triumph.