Britain's Shelley Rudman could see her hopes of sealing the World Cup skeleton title scuppered by illness.
The 29-year-old needs a win in the final round in Turin, scene of her 2006 Winter Olympic silver medal, to secure her first overall World Cup crown. But after winning her second successive round last week in St Moritz, Rudman has been struck down by a virus.
She told her official Twitter feed: "Not sure I'll be racing. Really gutted. Will make the call last thing." Despite her illness Rudman has managed some practice this week but sat out Thursday's final two training runs. Should she be passed fit the competition is poised for a superb climax in Friday's two-run race after the Briton's triumph last time out. Rudman beat Mellisa Hollingsworth by 0.24 seconds with overall leader Anja Huber finishing back in third place. Huber, who saw her overall lead reduced to 11 points by Rudman in St Moritz, claimed the fastest times in each of Thursday's two runs. Andi Schmid, British Skeleton Performance Director, said: "It will be hard for Shelley to win it, but she's a fighter and she will try to win. "Anja looks strong, but everything is possible and I hope not sliding will mean Shelley will be better recovered for Friday."
British team-mate Donna Creighton arrived in Cesana in sixth place in the overall World Cup rankings, and achieved the fifth and ninth fastest times in the final day of training. Amy Williams, the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games gold medallist, is currently 21st overall and will line up in her fourth competition of the season. Schmid added: "It would be a great result if we could see all three girls in the top-10."