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Australian skeleton racer and two-time Winter Olympian Jaclyn Narracott has announced her retirement from the sport.
The 33-year-old, who won a stunning silver medal at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, said she had "nothing left" as she bowed out.
"The last 12-18 months have been a journey," Narracott said in an emotional video released by the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA).
Taking a year off after her surprise medal in Beijing, the Brisbane-born slider underwent knee surgery at the start of 2024.
"The rehab from that confirmed I don't have the mental or emotional capability reserves any more to do this again," Narracott said through tears.
"As much as I would dearly love a world championship medal, particularly with this year's ones being in Lake Placid on, what to be I consider to be my home track, I just can't do it.
"To compete with the girls who are the best in the world, I know what I would have to put myself through.
"And there's nothing left. I tried."
There's an argument that every Australian winter sports athlete competes against the odds, particularly when they're from ice-less Queensland.
But that applies particularly for Narracott.
Niece of Paul Narracott — the first Australian to compete in both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games when he made the switch from sprinting at the LA Games of 1984 to the bobsleigh at Albertville in 1992 — Jaclyn started skeleton in 2011 and toiled for eight years on the World Cup circuit without claiming a medal.
Jaclyn Narracott completed four runs over two days in China. (Getty Images: Xinhua/Sun Fei)
In that time, Narracott overcame several obstacles that a lesser woman would have taken as signs to quit.
There was a serious concussion in Calgary that left her staggering around her training base in Bath as if she was drunk, with symptoms lasting six months and lingering fears that she would never slide again.
Then there was COVID, which meant she had to leave a training opportunity in Canada, shift her base to the Netherlands, and conduct an enormous amount of her preparation for the 2022 Games on Facetime with her UK-based husband, PyeongChang bronze medallist Dom Parsons.
She even had to self-fund the majority of her journey to two Olympic Games, with funding for the thread-bare skeleton program discontinued in 2014.
Narracott estimated that she had spent more than $100,000 pursuing her dream to a medal in Beijing, maxing out credit cards and raiding "the bank of mum and dad".
That changed just one month out from the 2022 Olympics, when Narracott broke through for a maiden World Cup victory in St Moritz.
Jaclyn Narracott toiled for many years before achieving her first World Cup podium. (Getty Images: Bongarts/Adam Pretty)
Then, to the surprise of even herself, Narracott stunned the Olympic field to finish second.
That Olympic medal was accompanied by a beaming, infectious smile that was impossible not to be swept up in.
That smile was evident in her farewell video too, breaking through the understandable tears.
"All I ever wanted to be was an Olympian. To get there twice, I'm very proud of that. To get a medal is phenomenal and well beyond anything I ever thought I would ever get when I first started," Narracott said.
"I'm sure there are a lot of people who saw my initial crash reels who would agree with that.
"To everyone who has been a part of my journey, thank you.
"There is no way I would be sitting here without your help.
"It's been long, it's been fun, I hope I'm not the last. I want my achievements to inspire our next generation of girls, and guys, to shoot for their dreams.
During COVID, Jaclyn Narracott trained with the Dutch squad. (Getty Images: Julian Finney)
"Just because we come from a small nation without a track, even in the southern hemisphere, it doesn't mean it's not possible.”
"I had great role models before me. I hope that I can be that for the next generation coming through.
"It's not easy, but nothing worth having ever is."
Australian Olympic Committee president Ian Chesterman said Narracott was one of the athletes he admired most in his time working in sport.
"She went on to win that incredible silver medal, but she did it for years and years on the smell of an oily rag," Chesterman said.
"She had to maintain her own motivation and desires.
Silver smells sweet after working off the smell of an oily rag. (Getty Images: Adam Pretty)
"She got herself in the right form at the right time, so that was a fantastic reward for her for what was a long career of striving almost solo on that woman's skeleton tour to produce that end result and that success."
Chief executive of the OWIA and chef de mission for the Beijing Games in 2022 Geoff Lipshut described her as an "Australian winter sport trailblazer".
"Jackie's is a remarkable story or perseverance and determination; she found a way to do her sport all over the world with limited support over eight years and then in the space of one month in 2022 capped her career with her maiden World Cup win and an Olympic silver medal.
"Jackie's efforts over many years are a credit to herself and family."
Newly appointed chef de mission for the Milan-Cortina Games, Alisa Camplin-Warner said Narracott is "a remarkable human".
"What Jackie achieved in Beijing was just phenomenal, the preparation that she put in to peak at that exact moment is something she and Australia will never forget," Camplin-Warner said.
"She is a remarkable human and extraordinary athlete, and has such a deep understanding about what it takes to succeed."