ST. MORITZ, Switzerland — Canadian Mirela Rahneva won the bronze medal in the women’s skeleton event at the world championships on Friday.
Aged 34, Rahneva earned her first career medal at Worlds. She finished with a total time of 4:34.41 for her four runs.
Rahneva of Ottawa was in second place halfway through the competition while Jane Channell of North Vancouver was third.
A tough third race on the world’s only unrefrigerated sliding track dropped Rahneva to fifth place, while Channell stayed in position to win the bronze medal.
Rahneva rebounded on the final run, in which she posted the third-fastest time to clinch the bronze medal.
Germany’s Susanne Kreher won the gold medal with a time of 4:33.57, beating Kimberley Bos of the Netherlands by just one-hundredth of a second.
Channell took sixth in 4:34.76.
“I love St. Moritz. I lived for the sole purpose of being here and doing well at these Worlds. Today I thought I had no chance and then I did. It’s just crazy,” said Rahneva.
Rahneva, fifth at the 2022 Olympics, screamed into the cheerleaders’ box after realizing her podium goal was achieved.
“It feels really good because I’ve been knocked off the podium before in important races where it could have happened, but things didn’t line up,” she said. I did everything I could to get there. I had the right preparation. I made my trainer travel. Everything I could have needed was here.”
Channell, who posted the second-fastest start time of the four rounds, was looking to register a first podium on the famous track, but she could not recover from a skid at the top of the track during the last descent.
“I wanted more. I knew I had it in me, expressed Channell. I let a skid bother me and couldn’t relax on my skeleton for the rest of the race. I made every possible mistake on my fourth run.”
Rahneva started the Worlds ranked second in the overall World Cup standings thanks to a win in Park City, Utah, and a silver medal in Winterberg, Germany.
Britain’s Matt Weston won the men’s race after posting a combined time of 4:28.71.
