Disillusionment for Kim Meylemans in Beijing: “I had two horrible weeks!”

Terrible disappointment for Kim Meylemans! Still 11th after the third run, the Belgian skeleton athlete had to settle for 18th place at the Beijing Games after a catastrophic fourth descent this Saturday at the Yanqing National Center for Sliding Sports. As in his second run on Friday, Kim made many mistakes during this final run, punctuated by a time of 1:03.73, his worst time of four runs. With a total of 4:11.34, she therefore ranked 18th, 3.72 behind Germany’s Hannah Neise, crowned Olympic champion.

The 21-year-old Neise clocked her fourth run in 1:01.63 for a total time of 4:07.62. In the lead after the first two runs, Australia’s Jaclyn Narracott finished on the second step of the podium at 0.62, with Kimberley Bos of the Netherlands taking bronze at 0.84.

“Now I want to go home as soon as possible!” exclaimed a devastated Kim Meylemans. “But I know it won’t be easy…”

It is true that our compatriot has lived through a real nightmare since his arrival in Beijing. Tested positive for Covid-19, she had been placed in quarantine. While she was able to reach the Olympic Village, she was still taken to a quarantine hotel before she was finally able to arrive in Yanqing. And, on Wednesday, she also injured her hamstrings, passing the last training.

As a reminder, the native of Arnberg (Germany), naturalized Belgian in 2014, had finished in 14th place in 2018, in Pyeongchang, and she hoped for much better.