Hallie Clarke Opens Skeleton World Cup Season in Sixth on Olympic Track
CORTINA, Ita.—Canada’s dynamic skeleton duo of Hallie Clarke and Jane Channell both slid into the top 15 to open the highly-anticipated World Cup season on the Olympic Track in Cortina, Italy.
The 20-year-old Clarke was consistent in her two runs down the newly constructed 16-corner track en route to finishing in sixth. Channell (North Vancouver, B.C.) snagged the final spot in the top 15.
“I’m really happy with how I’ve started this year. This is the healthiest I have been mentally and physically this quadrennial, and I can feel that translating into my sliding,” said Clarke.
The driven Brighton, Ont. resident, who is the first athlete ever to hold both the Senior and Junior World Championship titles in skeleton at the same time, clocked a combined time of 1:56.82 on the flowy 1,445-metre Italian chute.
“I’m a big fan of this track. It has a very similar flow to Beijing, but some areas are also similar to Winterberg,” added Clarke. “It was my first time doing an Olympic Test Event on a new track, and I learned so much about how to feel the track and trust my instincts. I’m proud of the work I’ve done to get here and excited for what is to come.”
Jane Channell, the veteran of the Canadian squad, is no stranger to familiarizing herself with new Olympic tracks. The 37-year-old, who is focused on earning her third trip to the premier multi-sport dance this winter in Italy, took advantage of a top 10 start time in her final heat to climb into 15th place overall at 1:57.62.
“It’s always nice finishing the first race of the year, and special learning a brand-new track because it doesn’t happen often,” said Channell, who fought through a foot injury she suffered earlier in the week. “The track here is flowy and tricky. It’s easy to get down but hard to be fast. I haven’t quite found the balance of letting the sled run while doing enough. It’s a fun, challenging track.”
The Germans grabbed the top two spots on the women’s skeleton podium for the first time on the new Italian test. Jacqueline Pfeifer clocked-in at 1:55.93 after completing her two runs to win the gold medal. Hannah Neise was second at 1:56.16. Belgium’s Kim Meylemans hung on for the bronze medal with a combined time of 1:56.25.
The Canadian duo of Clarke and Channell will look to continue their early-season momentum next week when the World Cup travels to Igls, Austria.