Lizzy Yarnold is celebrating the third skeleton World Cup win of her career after being upgraded to gold in the opening race of the season in Calgary following the disqualification of American Noelle Pikus-Pace.

Pikus-Pace finished 0.16 seconds clear of Yarnold over two runs but a subsequent protest led by the Great Britain team over excess tape used on the American's sled handle was upheld by the race jury.

To cap a superb start to the Olympic season, Dominic Parsons sprung a major surprise by claiming his first World Cup podium in the men's race, finishing third behind Latvia's Martins Dukurs and Alexander Tretiakov of Russia.

News of Yarnold's upgrade to gold came one hour after the end of the race and caused anger among the American team, with US Skeleton's assistant head coach Zach Lund describing the decision as a "travesty".

The US are not new to the process of skeleton appeals. In 2010, Amy Williams' Olympic gold medal celebrations were put on hold when the US launched an unsuccessful protest over issues with her race helmet.

Yarnold said: "I'm really pleased, it's a good start to my first Olympic season. It feels like it has been a long preparation and I am so grateful to our support team who have got us here in this shape."

Former Olympic silver medallist Shelley Rudman was upgraded to fourth place following the disqualification of Pikus-Pace, just 0.14 seconds off the podium. Parsons' success was more unexpected. The 26-year-old's previous best World Cup finish was seventh but an almost flawless second run saw him hold off fourth-placed Tomass Dukurs by seven hundredths of a second.

Parsons said: "I'm very happy with my result, particularly because I was able to pick up this new track so quickly.

"We have a long season to go but it's a great start and I'm looking forward to racing again next week."

The second World Cup of the season will take place in Park City, Utah next weekend, with the Americans vowing to come out fighting as preparations continue for February's Winter Olympics in Sochi.

US Skeleton head coach Tuffy Latour said: "Noelle is devastated. She didn't violate the spirit of the rule. But I'll tell you what - this has released the lioness in her. I have no doubt that she'll be on the medal stand next week."