Skeleton star Shelley Rudman finishes fourth in Germany

Rudman was leading the standings going into round four

Shelley Rudman slipped off the top of the Skeleton World Cup standings as she finished fourth in round four.

Kerstin Szymkowiak won Friday's event, with Mellisa Hollingsworth's second enough for her to replace Rudman at the top of the overall standings.

In all, five of the six British sliders in action finished in the top 10.

In the women's event Donna Creighton was joint sixth and Amy Williams 10th, while Kristan Bromley was sixth and Andy Wood 10th in the men's event.

"Obviously we want to we want to be on the podium, but I'm very pleased with our results today as a team," said GB skeleton boss Andi Schmid.

"I was pleased with the improvement by the boys today.

"Having all three athletes in the top 10 in the women's race earlier today was also a great result for the team."

WOMEN'S WORLD RANKINGS After four World Cup events 1. Mellisa Hollingsworth (Can) 835 2. Shelley Rudman (GB) 819 pts 3. Kerstin Szymkowiak (Ger) 729

Rudman was five-hundredths of a second off bronze in joint fourth in the women's.

The 2006 Olympic silver medallist, who finished fourth, second and first in the first three World Cup events, was eighth after the first of two runs but produced a strong second run to climb to fourth.

Creighton secured her best World Cup finish as she took sixth alongside Germany's Marion Trott, the reigning world champion and overall winner of the World Cup last season.

Creighton, who has been producing terrific starts all season, was third after her first run.

Williams, who is fifth in the overall standings, was four places further back in what was her fourth top-10 finish of the World Cup season.

In the men's event Bromley's sixth place means he is ninth in the overall standings, while Wood's 10th place was his highest finish yet.

The third British man in action, Adam Pengilly, finished 13th after claiming a top-10 finish on the second of his two runs.