The women's skeleton event at the 2010 Winter Olympics took place at the Whistler Sliding Centre on 18–19 February.

[3] Much of the speculation about potential medal winners before the Games focused on athletes from Great Britain, the United States, and Canada.

[4] Mellisa Hollingsworth of Canada, the defending Olympic bronze medalist, won the 2009–10 Skeleton World Cup,[5] and was considered a strong contender if not the favorite to win.

[8] A number of other athletes had the potential to win medals by virtue of previous strong finishes in international competition.

[9] The defending world champion was Germany's Marion Trott,[10] who also won the test event held at the venue.

[11] The last 2009–10 Skeleton World Cup prior to the 2010 Games took place in Igls, Austria (southeast of Innsbruck) on 22 January 2010 and was won by Germany's Anja Huber.

Mellisa Hollingsworth, competing on home soil and called the favorite to win in a number of media accounts, was in third place, trailing Szymkowiak after two runs by 0.09 seconds.

[20] Japanese athlete Nozomi Komuro was disqualified after the first heat because her sled did not have the required FIBT control sticker.

[17] The United States, Canada and Germany, together with two unnamed teams, lodged a protest with officials following Williams' successful first day of competition.

Williams became the first British sportsperson to win an individual Winter Olympic gold medal in thirty years.

Williams' teammate Shelley Rudman fought her way into the lead briefly after a fast final run, but was overtaken by a five other athletes and finished sixth.