Jaclyn Narracott sits poised to win Australia's first Olympic medal in a sliding sport as the surprise overnight leader in the women's skeleton.

Narracott produced two superb runs in Friday's heats to lead with a combined time of two minutes, 04.34 seconds.

"We aren't supposed to do well at the Winter Olympics so having the underdog tag works quite well," she said at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre.

She holds a slender lead of 0.21 seconds with the German pair Hannah Neise and Tina Hermann hard on her heels.

"It was so much fun," Narracott, 31, beamed.

"This field is really fiercly competitive so to be sitting on top of it is phenomenal.

"I knew if I could put down two runs, I would be in the mix."

Narracott already made history last month as the first Australian to win a World Cup race when she triumphed in St Moritz.

She says having her husband -- who doubles as her coach -- by her side since late January has made the difference.

"All year we had been doing it all via FaceTime so to have him with me has been huge," she said.

Narracott says her priority is to fight off nerves as the time ticks down to Saturday's final two heats to decide the medals.

She hopes winning Australia's first Olympic medal in a sliding sport may boost her sport's profile back home.

"That would be absolutely unreal and might actually get some girls back into skeleton," she said.