Photo by AP Photo / KEYSTONE / Karl Mathis

Gold medal winner Noelle Pikus-Pace, from the United States, left, is hugged by her husband Janson Pace, right, after winning the women's Skeleton World Championship at the Olympia Bobrun in St. Moritz, Switzerland on Friday, Jan. 26, 2007.

Current World Cup leader Katie Uhlaender (Breckenridge, Colo.) continued her medal streak with a third-place finish, adding to her silver and four gold medal performances this season.

“When I came around the finish, my eyes filled with tears because of the journey it took me to get here, both mentally and physically,” Pikus-Pace said. “Fifteen months ago I broke my leg, and then I missed the Olympics. It’s been a long journey back, and now I won World Championships.  Words can’t express how I feel.”

Pikus-Pace entered today’s final heats in first position with a 0.78 lead over teammate Uhlaender, who was in second after the first day.  Extending her lead, Pikus-Pace had a third heat time of 1:11.05, over one-tenth of a second ahead of Switzerland’s Tania Morel, who had a second place run of 1:11.18. 

Uhlaender and Switzerland’s Maya Pederson entered today’s race only one one-hundredth from each other.  Pederson had a third heat time of 1:11.22, third best in the heat.  Uhlaender had a run of 1:11.50, fifth best in the heat, placing her behind Pederson by 0.28 seconds. 

In the final heat, Pikus-Pace put away the rest of the field with a crushing track record of 1:10.34.  Fastest in all four runs, Pikus-Pace won by the largest margin in women’s skeleton World Championship history with a 1.56 second lead.  Pikus-Pace, the first U.S. woman to win the overall World Cup title in 2005, made history again by claiming the first World Championship title for the women’s U.S. skeleton team today.

“I knew my last run was decent and that I would be able to hold my position in standings, but I had no idea it would be a track record run,” Pikus-Pace said.  “This whole year for me has been about this World Championship race.  All of my determination has been for this race.”

On the fourth and final run of the race, Morel finished in fourth with a combined time of 4:46.45.  Uhlaender had the second fastest time of the final heat with a 1:10.83, but it wasn’t enough to catch home track competitor and reigning Olympic Champion Maya Pederson.  Uhlaender finished in third place with a combined time of 4:45.85, while Pederson claimed the silver with a total time of 4:45.69.

“Tracks like Igls, Austria and St. Moritz are a challenge for me, because they’re glider tracks instead of driving tracks,” Uhlaender said.  “But I feel like I’ve had a breakthrough this year.  I came into the race today without any expectations.  I’m happy to know that I’m starting to catch the rhythm of these European tracks.”

Bree Schaaf-Boyer (Bremerton, Wash.) maintained her 11th position today, finishing with a combined time of 4:49.41 after third and fourth heat times of 1:12.19 and 1:12.17.  Courtney Yamada (Boise, Idaho) had third and fourth run times of 1:11.60 and 1:12.86, respectively, for a combined time of 4:50.08, placing her in 13th.

For complete results of today’s race, visit http://www.bobsleigh.com/, the Web site of the Fédération International de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganning (FIBT).

The skeleton World Championship race in St. Moritz will be broadcast on SPEED Channel this Sunday, Jan. 28 from 12-2 p.m.  Women’s and men’s skeleton races will be televised from 12-1 p.m, while the two-man bobsled competition will air from 1-2 p.m.  All times listed are in Eastern Standard Time.