March 7 2015. Lizzy Yarnold had just completed the career ‘grand slam’, taking victory in Winterberg to add to her Olympic, European and World Cup crowns won during the space of just 407 days.
It should have been one of the happiest moments in her career, up there with winning gold at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games twelve months previous.
To those on the outside, Yarnold had everything going for her, a bulging trophy cabinet and the rest of her rivals playing catch up.
But after all the adulation and excitement had calmed down, all was not well in the world for Yarnold.
Emotionally and physically fatigued, that summer she made the decision to step away from the sport that had been her focus for the previous seven years.
“After Sochi, I had not yet been Olympic champion and world champion so it was an automatic goal to look 12 months ahead,” she explained.
“And then after I’d achieved all my lifetime sporting ambitions, I was really exhausted emotionally and physically.
“There were so many layers of exhaustion that I had to unpack. I tried to get back into the gym for that summer and I just couldn’t commit to it, I just couldn’t be motivated.
“That’s when I had to stand back and look at it and look at the bigger picture of going to my next Olympics.
“It was quite a big decision to tell someone that I’m struggling and I can’t deal with it and whether I could take a year off.
“When I told my coaches how I felt that was through tears. So to know that they would support me and help me and bring me back, it was really important to me. They were really supportive and understood, more than I could have ever imagined.”
With the decision taken in the summer, the announcement was made public in September that Yarnold would not be considered for selection for the 2015/2016 season.
[quote: Now I’m back, I feel way more prepared than I would have been had I not taken a year off: Lizzy Yarnold: left]
While her teammates started heading off around the world for competitions, the Olympic champion meanwhile took her time to get herself back on track.
There was a wedding to plan for the following May, a house move to undertake, and an open university course in accounting and book keeping to complete no less.
She was never too far from skeleton though, keeping a close eye on results – including those of teammate Laura Deas who won the season-opening World Cup race before eventually finishing the campaign seventh overall.
But despite missing out on the action, there were never any regrets.
“The year off I really needed it to happen,” she said.
“When I came into the sport I was 19 years old and I had been Lizzy the athlete for six years or so and I felt there was a lot of benefit from reminding myself who Lizzy the person was and finding that inner drive of wanting to get back to doing the sport that I love.
“Four years is such a long time in an Olympic cyclye, we are doing eight or nine races a season. To get yourself motivated for each race takes a huge amount of mental and physical effort.
“I never doubted that it wasn’t the right decision and I’m just really glad I’ve come back and it’s as awesome as I remember it.
“Now I’ve come back, I feel way more prepared than I would have been had I not taken a year off.”
Yarnold is indeed back, and back seemingly with a new vigour and purpose following a total of 18 months off a sled.
Then 28-year-old topped the women’s timing sheets at last month’s selection races in Lillehammer and then on Monday was named as part of the two-strong Great Britain women’s World Cup team alongside Deas.
The first race takes place in Whistler at the end of this month, quickly followed by Lake Placid – although Yarnold admits she’s already letting thoughts wander to Pyeongchang and defending her Olympic title in 2018.
“The other day I did all my calendar dates for this year’s World Cup. I’ve put the opening ceremony and closing ceremony for Pyeongchang too,” she added.
“I can now remember Sochi and how amazing the experience was and what it meant to me. To think I could go to another one makes me get up in the morning.
“For the three weeks we were in Lillehammer it was hard work but I set a few track records. “I’m working all the time to try and be a better athlete and the time off seems to have worked as I’ve come back a better athlete.
“To win the selection race gave me a lot of confidence that I’d made the right decisions over the last few years and I’m ready.”
Sportsbeat 2016