Jaclyn Narracott, who won a surprise silver medal at the Beijing Winter Olympic in Beijing, announced her retirement. Narracott became the first Australian to win a medal in skeleton at a Winter Olympic Games.
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Narracott expressed her desire to inspire the next generation of Australian athletes. Australian skeleton runner and two-time Winter Olympic Jaclyn Narracott has announced her retirement from the sport.
The 33-year-old, who won a stunning silver medal at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic said she had nothing left as she bowed out. The last 12 to 18 months have been quite a journey Narracott shared in an emotional video released by the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA).
Jaclyn Narracott Reflects on Retirement and the Challenges of Competition
Taking a year off after her surprise medal in Beijing, the Brisbane-born skater underwent knee surgery in early 2024.
Rehabilitation from him confirmed that I no longer have the mental or emotional reserves to do this again Narracott said through tears. As much as I would love a world championship medal, especially with this year’s being in Lake Placid, what I consider to be my home track, I just can’t do it.
To compete with the girls who are the best in the world, I know what I have to push myself through. There’s an argument that every Australian winter sports athlete competes against the odds, especially when they’re from ice-free Queensland.
But this is especially true of Narracott. You can read Winter Olympic 2026: USA Bobsled and Skeleton Program Seeks New Talent
Jaclyn Narracott: Overcoming Challenges on the Road to Success
The granddaughter of Paul Narracott – the first Australian to compete in both the Summer and Winter Olympics when he made the switch from sprinting at the 1984 LA Games to bobsleigh in Albertville in 1992 – Jaclyn started skeleton in 2011 and worked for the next eight years. the World Cup circuit without claiming a medal.
In that time, Narracott overcame several obstacles that a lesser woman would have taken as signs to walk away.
There was a severe concussion in Calgary that left her staggering around her training base in Bath like she was drunk, with symptoms lasting six months and constant fears that she would slip again.
Then there was COVID, which meant she had to pass up a training opportunity in Canada, move her base to the Netherlands and conduct a large amount of her preparation for the 2022 Games via FaceTime with her husband, Dom Parsons, a PyeongChang bronze medalist based in the United Kingdom.
A Journey of Sacrifice and Triumph
She even had to self-fund most of her travel to two Olympics, with funding for the wireless skeleton program cut in 2014. Narracott estimated she had spent more than $100,000 chasing her dream of a medal in Beijing, maxing out credit cards and raiding “the bank of mum and dad. That changed just a month from the 2022 Olympics, when Narracott broke through for a first World Cup victory in St Moritz.
Then, to her surprise, Narracott stunned the Olympic field to finish second. That Olympic medal came with a bright, infectious smile that was impossible not to hide. That smile was also evident in her farewell video, breaking into understandable tears.
All I ever wanted was to be an Olympian. I’m very proud to have made it there twice. To get a medal is phenomenal and far beyond anything I ever thought I’d achieve when I first started, Narracott said. I’m sure many people who witnessed my early crash reels would agree with that.
A Message of Gratitude and Inspiration
To everyone who has been part of my journey, thank you. I can’t stay here without your help. It’s been a long time, it’s been fun, I hope I’m not the last. I want my achievements to inspire our next generation of girls and boys to chase their dreams.
Just because we come from a small nation with no tracks, even in the southern hemisphere, doesn’t mean it’s not possible. I had great role models before me. I hope to be like that for the next generation. It’s not easy, but nothing is ever worth having.
Australian Olympic Committee president Ian Chesterman said Narracott was one of the athletes he most admired in his time working in the sport. She went on to win that incredible silver medal, but she did it for years and years smelling like an oilcloth, Chesterman said. She had to maintain her motivation and her desires.
A Remarkable Journey of Tenacity and Achievement
She got herself in the right shape at the right time so it was a fantastic reward for her for what has been a long career of almost single-handedly trying in that woman’s skeleton tournament to produce that final result and that success. OWIA chief executive and chief of mission for the 2022 Beijing Games Geoff Lip shut described it as a picturesque of Australian winter sports.
Jackie’s is a remarkable story or tenacity and determination; she found a way to take her sport around the world with limited support over eight years and then in the space of one month in 2022 ended her career with her first World Cup win and an Olympic silver medal. Jackie’s dedication over the years is a testament to herself and her family.
A Hero’s Welcome: Jaclyn Narracott Returns Home
Tears, flowers and a whole new family member greeted silver medalist Olympian Jaclyn Narracott as she entered the arrivals lounge at the Brisbane International Airport this morning. Leaving the icy tracks of Beijing’s Winter Olympic Games for the summer heat of Brisbane, Narracott embraced her mum, Cheryl, and dad, Roger, along with her baby nephew, Hudson. This was not only the first time her family had seen her since she earned her Olympic silver medal, but also the first time the 31-year-old had returned to Australia in over two years and her first meeting with baby Hudson. Speaking at the airport, Narracott told reporters that the silver medal was a dream she had always cherished, though she never truly expected to achieve it.
The only time it feels real is when this is actually around my neck Narracott stated. Narracott transfixed Olympic viewers in Australia as she hurdled down icy tracks at speeds in excess of 130 kilometers per hour in the skeleton event.
In her own words, skeleton involves taking a running start and diving head-first down what is essentially an iced waterslide on a boogie board with metal rails along the back—going as fast as you can. However, the story behind Narracott’s success is just as captivating. Olympic talent runs in the Narracott family, but it was a fortuitous encounter that introduced a teenage Jaclyn to the sport of skeleton.
Her mother, Cheryl Narracott, shared with ABC Radio that Jaclyn was inspired by her uncle’s stories from an early age. Paul Narracott, her uncle, competed in both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.
She would listen to those stories—they get passed down through the family Cheryl said. As a child, Narracott participated in track and field and was scouted by the Queensland Academy of Sport as a soccer player.
From Summer to Winter: Jaclyn Narracott’s Unexpected Journey
While at the Queensland Sports and Athletics Centre in Brisbane, the national bobsleigh team arrived to train. They encouraged her to switch from a summer to a winter sport, leading her to fly to Europe in 2011 to try out for Australia’s bobsleigh squad.
While she was there, national skeleton coaches approached her about training in the solo sport, much to her parents’ surprise. She called us, and I had no idea what skeleton was Cheryl said.
Narracott made her Olympic debut in skeleton at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games, with her husband, Dominic Parsons—a bronze-medal-winning Olympian—serving as her coach.
However, shortly after, Narracott sustained a concussion that almost ended her career. At the family reunion in Brisbane’s airport today, her father Roger spoke about his daughter’s determination.
Overcoming Adversity: The Road to Success
She was out of action for six months and she was she couldn’t walk down the street without feeling drunk or dizzy. I can’t imagine what that feels like he said. To recover from that, going through all the rehab with the specialized physiotherapists and neurosurgeons, and then fighting to regain her license has been a long, challenging journey.
Narracott estimated that pursuing the sport had cost her and her family around $200,000. After the concussion, the 31-year-old experienced a shift in her mindset. I kind of came to terms with—not so much giving up—but accepting that maybe winning a World Cup medal wasn’t in the cards Narracott shared.
I made peace with the idea that my career wasn’t any better or worse because of it. It was still a solid career, even if I didn’t achieve the medals I truly wanted. And sure enough, the moment I let go of all that, everything fell into place. Not only did I win silver in the skeleton at the Beijing Games, but I also secured the World Cup Series Gold in January this year, marking my first podium finish in a world series event.t.
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