Watching the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics at the age of 10 ignited a fire in the belly of a young Jackie Narracott.
Her sporting career began in athletics and although she excelled as a sprinter, long and triple jumper, she knew it wasn't enough.
"I had dreams of going to the Summer Olympics and realised that wasn't going to happen," Narracott said.
She tried soccer for a while, but it wasn't until Narracott made the transition to winter sports in 2011 that things took off.
She initially tried bobsleigh but switched to skeleton a year later.
Heading to Beijing in career-best form
Now 31, the Queenslander is preparing to represent Australia in her second Winter Games at the Beijing 2022 Olympics.
She'll be part of Australia's third-largest Winter Olympic team, which also has the highest female representation (52.3 per cent) in Australian Winter Olympic history.
"It's unreal, beyond what I'd dreamt," she said.
Narracott heads into the Beijing Games in career-best form.
In January 2022, she created history when she became the first Australian to win a World Cup gold medal in skeleton at St Moritz, Switzerland.
Narracott put the field on notice when she set a new track record in her first run with a time of 1 minute, 8.72 seconds. Her combined two-run time catapulted her to the top spot.
Her biggest inspiration
It was a dream inspired by her uncle, Paul Narracott, who was the first Australian to compete at both a Summer and Winter Olympic Games.
Paul Narracott competed as a track sprinter at the 1984 Los Angeles Games before participating in the two-man bobsleigh at Albertville in 1992.
"Having Uncle Paul as a role model and influence was massive in opening my eyes to what could be possible," she said.
Paul Narracott is now a dentist.
He said he was pleased to have inspired his niece and was proud of what she had achieved so far.
"Jackie has done so well. She's created history for us in sliding sports," he said.
Dr Narracott said making the switch from summer to winter sports would have been very daunting and isolating at first.
He believes Narracott is a genuine Olympic medal chance after her recent gold medal at the World Cup, where she beat overall World Cup champion Kimberley Bos of the Netherlands.
"Jackie may not be the Olympic favourite — it's still Kimberley Bos — but when you win the last World Cup the way she did, I can't imagine a better lead-up," he said.
'I'm good enough to compete with the best'
It's a sentiment echoed by Jackie Narracott.
After her best World Cup finish in six years, she heads into her second Winter Games full of confidence.
"I've now got the evidence in front of me to believe that I'm good enough to compete with the best," she said.
The 2018 Olympian will compete at the Yanqing Sliding Centre, outside of Beijing.
The facility includes a world-first 360-degree loop, with athletes reaching top speeds of up to 140 kilometres per hour.
According to Narracott, the speed and the adrenaline of the skeleton is "like nothing else".
Skeleton racers use a small sled to race down a frozen track at ultra-fast speed.
Competitors hurtle down headfirst, with their faces just inches above the ice course.
Learning from past lessons
Despite the thrills, it hasn't always been a smooth ride.
Narracott has suffered several head injuries, including one that threatened to end her career in 2018-19, when she was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome.
"I couldn't walk on flat ground without feeling drunk and out of it," she said.
It took several months to recover, but the lessons learnt have been valuable moving forward.
Narracott said she was now extremely cautious and had even pulled out of races when the track appeared bumpy.
It's a tactic that's served her well.
She now hopes to see more women get into skeleton racing and has simple advice for anyone wanting to get into the sport.
"Give it a shot," she said.
