Zhao Dan made history for China as she won the country's first ever gold medal in the women's skeleton at the IBSF World Cup in Yanqing, Beijing on Saturday.

The 21-year-old finished first in both heats and sealed the victory in two minutes and 4.27 seconds, 0.37s ahead of Beijing Winter Olympic champion Hannah Neise of Germany. Britain's Freya Tarbit seized the bronze in 2:04.68.

In the same event last season, Zhao also made history by winning China's first medal in the women's skeleton at the IBSF World Cup in Yanqing, pocketing a silver just 0.02s behind gold medalist Tina Hermann of Germany.

"I finally realized my dream at home. Our whole team made great progress in recent years, and I performed my best today and felt delighted to win the gold," Zhao said after the race. "I need to keep focused and try my best in the following events overseas."

In the men's skeleton, Germany's Christopher Grotheer, gold medalist at Beijing 2022, clocked two minutes and 1.93 seconds to clinch the gold, Britain's Matt Weston finished second, just 0.01s behind, while China's Yin Zheng took the bronze.

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