Lizzy Yarnold facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Elizabeth Yarnold
OBE

Personal information
Full name	Elizabeth Anne Yarnold
Nickname(s)	Lizzy, She-ra, The Yarnold, OC
Nationality	British
Born	(1988-10-31) 31 October 1988 (age 36) Sevenoaks, Kent, England
Height	5 ft 8 in
Weight	11 stone 0 pounds; 154 pounds (70 kg)
Spouse(s)	James Roche ​ (m. 2016)​
Sport
Country	Great Britain
Sport	Skeleton
Coached by	Eric Bernotas
Medal record Olympic Games Gold 2014 Sochi Women Gold 2018 Pyeongchang Women World Championships Gold 2015 Winterberg Women Bronze 2012 Lake Placid Women Bronze 2017 Königssee Women World Cup Gold 2013–2014 Women Silver 2014–2015 Women European Championships Gold 2015 Igls Women

Elizabeth Anne Yarnold, also known as Lizzy Yarnold, is a British former skeleton racer. She was born on October 31, 1988. Lizzy joined the Great Britain national team in 2010. She is famous for winning two Olympic gold medals in a row, first in 2014 and then in 2018. This makes her the most successful British Winter Olympian ever. She is also the most successful Olympic skeleton athlete from any country.

In the 2013–14 season, she won the 2013–14 Skeleton World Cup. She then won a gold medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Lizzy was chosen to represent Team GB at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. There, she made history by being the first person to win a second Olympic gold medal in skeleton. She was also the first British athlete to defend a Winter Olympic title.

During the 2018 Olympics, Lizzy set a new track record for women's skeleton. She finished the final race with a time of 51.46 seconds. This was much faster than the previous record. Lizzy was also chosen to carry the flag for Great Britain at the opening ceremony in Pyeongchang.

Lizzy Yarnold's Early Life and School

Lizzy Yarnold competing in 2017

Lizzy Yarnold was born in Sevenoaks, Kent, England. She went to St Michael's Preparatory School. Later, she attended Maidstone Grammar School for Girls in Maidstone, where she was the Head Girl. After finishing her A Levels, Lizzy decided to study geography and sport and exercise science. She went to the University of Gloucestershire.

Lizzy Yarnold's Personal Life

Since she started skeleton racing, Lizzy Yarnold has lived in Bath, Somerset. She first lived in a flat owned by Amy Williams. Amy was also a skeleton athlete and won an Olympic gold medal in 2010. In 2018, Lizzy shared that Portsmouth was her home.

On May 1, 2016, Lizzy Yarnold married James Roche. James is an engineer. He helped design Lizzy's sled when he worked for McLaren Applied Technologies.

How Lizzy Yarnold Started Skeleton Racing

Lizzy Yarnold first trained as a heptathlete. This is a sport where athletes compete in seven different events. She was inspired to try skeleton after watching Denise Lewis at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

In 2008, Lizzy joined a program called Girls4Gold by UK Sport. This program helps find talented athletes. At first, she thought she might be good at horse sports. But UK Sport suggested skeleton would be a better fit for her. She started competing in 2010. She won her first official race in the Europa Cup in Igls in November. She won again the very next day.

In the years that followed, Lizzy improved her skeleton skills. She learned different race courses and became strong enough to compete at the World Cup level. In the 2012/13 season, she finished 9th overall. She also became a junior World Champion and won a bronze medal at the senior World Championships in 2012.

Her sled has a special name, Mervyn. She named it after a former co-worker.

Lizzy Yarnold's Success in the 2013/14 Season

At the start of the Olympic season, Lizzy Yarnold showed she was much more competitive. She often had the fastest times in practice runs. She won the first race in Calgary. This set up a rivalry with US athlete Noelle Pikus-Pace. Lizzy eventually won the World Cup Championship at the last race in Königssee.

She also won the Olympic gold medal at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. She beat Pikus-Pace by almost a second. Lizzy's Olympic performance was amazing. She had the fastest time in all four runs. She also set new track records on her first and third runs. This gold medal was the tenth gold medal ever won by British athletes in 90 years of Winter Olympics history. It also meant that Great Britain had won a medal in Women's Skeleton at every Winter Olympics since the event began.

For her achievements in skeleton racing, Lizzy Yarnold was given the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) award in 2014.

2014 Winter Olympics medal winners

Lizzy Yarnold's 2014/15 Season Highlights

After her Olympic and World Cup wins, Lizzy Yarnold achieved a "career grand slam" in 2014/15. This means she won all the major titles. In February 2015, she became the European Champion. The next month, she became the World Champion. During her World Championship win, she broke the track record at Winterberg twice.

She finished second overall in the World Cup standings that season, just behind Janine Flock. Lizzy won five World Cup races. She missed one race in Calgary due to health reasons.

In September 2015, Lizzy Yarnold announced she would take a year off. She missed the 2015/16 skeleton season because she felt very tired and needed a break.

Lizzy Yarnold's 2016/17 Season

After taking a year off, Lizzy Yarnold returned to competition in December 2016. She finished fourth in her first race back in Whistler. At the World Championships in Königssee in February 2017, Lizzy won a bronze medal. She ended the year ranked seventh in the IBSF rankings and ninth in the World Cup.

Lizzy Yarnold's 2017/18 Season and Olympic Defense

For several years, Lizzy Yarnold had dizzy spells. In September 2017, she shared that she had a vestibular disorder. This is a condition that affects the inner ear and can cause dizziness. Even though she had a difficult season, she successfully defended her Olympic title at the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang.

She faced several health problems during the Games. When she arrived in South Korea, she got a chest infection. It became so bad that she had trouble speaking and breathing. On the first day of the competition, her vestibular condition flared up, causing dizziness. Despite this, she took the lead with a new track record on her first run. She later admitted she was close to pulling out of the competition because of her health.

After the second run, she dropped to third place. However, her health improved for the second day of competition. She moved up to second place after the third run. In the final run, she set another track record. This helped her win the gold medal by almost half a second. Lizzy later said that winning her second Olympic gold was her greatest achievement.

Life After Pyeongchang and Retirement

Just a few weeks after the 2018 Olympics, Lizzy Yarnold had knee surgery. Doctors removed a small growth in her knee that had been found six months before the Games. After the surgery, using crutches made her back pain worse. She had suffered from back pain for several years. Doctors found she had a displaced disc. This meant she had to take strong pain medication for several months. She had a successful back operation in July 2018.

In September 2018, Lizzy said she planned to return to training. However, the next month, she announced her retirement from competing. She now helps young athletes as a mentor. She also works for the British Olympic Association's athlete commission.

Lizzy Yarnold's World Cup Achievements

Lizzy Yarnold had a very successful career in skeleton. She won the overall World Cup title in the 2013–14 season. She also finished second in the 2014–15 season.

She won many individual World Cup races:

• In the 2011–12 season, she won two races.
• In the 2013–14 season, she won four races.
• In the 2014–15 season, she won five races.

Images for kids

• 

  2014 Winter Olympics

See also

In Spanish: Elizabeth Yarnold para niños