Golden finish as Melton's Amelia Coltman celebrates skeleton bob medals double

Coltman ended the World Cup campaign in Norway in the same way she started it in South Korea in November as she made the podium for the second time this season.

The 28-year-old clocked a combined time of 1 minute 44.98 seconds to finish 0.85 seconds behind winner Janine Flock and 0.39 shy of America’s Mystique Ro, with Ro removed from the standings for the European championship.

Coltman finished two tenths of a second ahead of Kimberley Bos of the Netherlands in fourth and a further 0.15 in front of Germany’s Susanne Kreher in fifth.

This result saw Coltman jump from fifth to fourth in the Overall World Cup standings at the conclusion of the eight-race season.

It marks the best finish for a British female since double Olympic Champion Lizzy Yarnold won silver a decade ago.

“I’m really happy with that. I felt really cool, calm and collected today and I put in a really solid performance, with Personal Bests on my start and downtimes,” said Coltman, whose bronze in last season’s European Championships in Sigulda, Latvia was the first top-tier medal of her career.

“I came third in the Europeans last year so to get second today is phenomenal.

“I started the year on a high with my first World Cup gold, had a bit of a drop off but then picked myself up and have performed really solidly throughout the season.

“I’ve changed a few things with my mindset and it’s unleashed the potential that’s always been there. I’ve still got things to improve on but I’m really excited for next year now.

“To be fourth in the world going into the World Championships in March and next year’s Olympic season is a big boost.”

Fellow Brits Tabby Stoecker and Freya Tarbit finished 10th and 14th in the World Cup race and seventh and ninth in the European Championships.

They ended the World Cup campaign in seventh and eighth spots in the overall rankings, giving GB their best global standings across the women’s team since Laura Deas finished fifth and Rose McGrandle seventh when Yarnold was second in 2015.

There was no rest for Amelia as the following day saw her compete in the Mixed Team race, where Great Britain ended the World Cup skeleton season in style as Amelia and Marcus Wyatt won team gold.

Wyatt and Coltman both won European Championship silver in the individual events on Friday and they went one better 24 hours later as they brought the curtain down on an outstanding campaign for the British team.

The GB pair clocked a combined time of 1 minute 50.72 seconds to pip Austria’s individual gold medalists Janine Flock and Samuel Maier to top spot by two hundredths of a second.

Tabby Stoecker and Laurence Bostock finished 10th of the 20 teams today, with America’s Mystique Ro and Austin Florian taking bronze.

It marks the second team gold of the four-race season for GB in an event that will make its Olympic debut in Milan Cortina in a year’s time.

It means the skeleton squad end the World Cup campaign with a record 19 medals across eight individual races and four team events, with seven of those gold.