Lizzy Yarnold: Olympic champion misses out on medals in Konigssee

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Lizzy Yarnold was the only Briton to make it through to the second run in Konigssee, Germany

Lizzy Yarnold narrowly missed out on a medal as Jacqueline Lolling won gold at the final skeleton World Cup of the season in Konigssee, Germany.

The 2014 Olympic champion was joint fifth after the first run but moved up a place in the second to finish 0.46 seconds behind home favourite Lolling.

Germany's Tina Hermann was second with Austria's Janine Flock winning bronze.

Yarnold is bidding to become the first Britain to defend a Winter Olympic title in Pyeongchang next month.

The 29-year-old has had a mixed season, winning just one medal, a bronze, at the opening World Cup of the campaign in Lake Placid, New York, in November.

She came ninth in last Friday's event in Switzerland but her performance in Germany meant she finished ninth in the final standings.

"I'm super happy with my fourth place," she said. "There's been many lows so I'm excited to finish the circuit on a high.

"It's been a mammoth team effort over many months and it's good to come in the top 10 in the overall World Cup rankings."

Fellow Britons Madelaine Smith - celebrating her 23rd birthday - and Laura Deas missed out on a second run in Bavaria.

Their first efforts of 53.40 and 53.63 seconds saw them finish 22nd and 23rd respectively, marking Deas' first finish outside of the top 12 this season.

"Not my day today. It's been a challenging week but I'll be back strong when it matters," .

In the men's race, Dom Parsons finished 11th while Marcus Wyatt and Jerry Rice placed 12th and 14th respectively.

Germany's Axel Jungk won the race in a time of one minute 41.61 seconds for his first World Cup gold medal, with Latvian brothers Martins and Tomass Dukurs completing the podium line-up.

The Winter Olympics get under way in Pyeongchang, South Korea, on 9 February.