Williams struggles on return to the ice

The Olympic gold medallist Amy Williams returned to the ice for the first time since her famous triumph in Vancouver today with a 12th-place finish in the Skeleton World Cup race in Igls, Austria.

Williams, who sat out the first half of the season to recover from her Olympic exertions, posted the third-fastest time of the day as she improved five places in her second run, but admitted there was more to come.

Williams said: "I was a bit disappointed but it's what I expected and predicted. I can't remember the last time I was that low in a race. It takes a while to get fully back into the race routine."

Williams's Great Britain team-mate and rival Shelley Rudman finished in second to maintain her challenge for the overall women's World Cup title, although the Igls winner, Germany's Anja Huber, also stretched her overall lead.