Canada’s Mirela Rahneva Fourth at Skeleton World Cup in Germany

KONIGSSEE, Ger.—Mirela Rahneva bounced back after a difficult week of training to finish fourth at the skeleton World Cup in Konigssee, Germany on Friday.

Struggling to find the fast line down the 1,675 metre track in each of her training runs, the Ottawa resident put the week behind her and took a deep breadth before hitting the start line where she put together two, third-place push times. Rahneva was not able to hold her spot down the track, finishing one spot of the podium with a two-run time of 1:43.46.

“I had some pretty rough training runs and really wasn’t sure how today was going to go,” said Rahneva after matching her best ever finish in Konigssee. She was also fourth in 2017. “I just regrouped and came out today with no expectations which worked out well.”

The 31-year-old Olympian began the day similar to three of her first five races of the season, sitting in fifth place after the opening run. She grabbed one spot back on the field after her second trip down the icy chute in the Bavarian Alps to post her third, fourth-place finish of the season.

“Konigssee is a track that can throw anyone for a loop, so I never know what to expect here,” said Rahneva. “After finishing seventh in the last two races, I’ll take the fourth. I really didn’t think I would be in the top-six today, so everything is relative.”

The Germans successfully defended their home track by securing the top-two places in the standings. Tina Hermann slid into the winner’s circle with the top time in both heats at 51.55 and 51.24 (1:42.79). Jacqueline Loelling was .18 seconds off the pace in the silver-medal position at 1:42.97.

Russia’s Elena Nikitina edged out Canada’s Rahneva by .25 seconds for the final spot on the podium with a time of 1:43.20.   

Canada’s Jane Channell put down two doozy starts despite a 15th place finish. The North Vancouver Olympian was second at the start in the opening run with a 4.94, and matched Rahneva with the third-fastest time at 4.96 in the final run. Channell finished with a combined time of 1:44.76.

Calgary’s Madison Charney did not qualify for the final heat with the top-20 athletes, finishing 21st overall.

In the men’s race, Kevin Boyer was the top Canuck in 17th spot. The Sherwood Park, Alta. resident clocked-in at 1:42.03. Calgary’s Kyle Murray was 28th.

Russia’s Alexander Tretiakov won the men’s race with a time of 1:40.27.

Women’s Skeleton Results: https://www.ibsf.org/en/component/events/event/500268

Men’s Skeleton Results: https://www.ibsf.org/en/component/events/event/500267

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