IRELAND’S ELSA DESMOND marked her Winter Olympics debut with a personal best run in the women’s singles luge on Monday.
Desmond clocked 1:01.608 for her opening run at the Yangqing National Sliding Centre in Beijing, improving her previous best time by 1.2 seconds.
She followed that up with a second run of 1:03.857 which dropped her to last place of the 34 competitors.
The top 20 in the standings after Tuesday’s third run will progress to the fourth and final run to decide the medals.
Double Olympic singles champion Natalie Geisenberger of Germany leads the overall standings by just over two-tenths of a second from German team-mate Anna Berreiter, with Tatyana Ivanova of the Russian Olympic Committee currently in the bronze medal place.
“I have so many emotions right now,” Desmond said afterwards.
“I have just made history, I have just become an Olympian, it’s just amazing.
“When I finished that first run, the emotions. It was just the most amazing feeling. I got a personal best by 1.2 seconds, which in this sport is amazing. I was so happy.
“It’s just a disappointment on the second run, but I kept the shiny side down, so I guess that’s something to be grateful for.”
