Hallie Clarke Slides to Seventh at Skeleton World Cup in St. Moritz

ST. MORITZ, Sui.— Canada’s Hallie Clarke battled her way to a seventh-place finish at the Skeleton World Cup stop in St. Moritz on Friday, sliding down the iconic 1,700-metre natural ice track that winds its way to the finish in nearby Celerina.

Clarke, who endured a challenging outing in snowy conditions last week in Winterberg, showed renewed confidence on the historic Swiss track.

“I felt like I gained my confidence back on my sled this week,” said Clarke. “A mistake in run two cost me a lot of time, but my push times were competitive again, and it was the most competitive I’ve been in a World Cup in St. Moritz. I’m taking the small wins and lessons into next week to continue building.”

The Brighton, Ont. athlete sat sixth after her opening run before slipping one position in the final with the world’s fastest headfirst tobogganers.

As the world’s only natural track, St. Moritz presents unique challenges, changing slightly from season to season.

“Since the track is natural, it changes every year,” added Clarke, who remains the only skeleton athlete in history to hold both senior and junior World Championship titles simultaneously. “I feel like we did a great job as a team navigating these intricacies and adjusting our plan.”

Belgium’s Kim Meylemans captured gold with a combined time of 2:22.01. American Kelley Curtis earned silver in 2:22.12, while Brazil’s Nicole Rocha Silveira completed the podium with a time of 2:22.18.

Two-time Olympian Jane Channell of North Vancouver, B.C., and a leader within Canada’s young National Skeleton Program, posted strong starts, recording the third- and fastest push times across the two heats. Channell sat 12th after the first heat before dropping seven positions in the final heat to finish 19th overall with a combined time of 2:23.34.

Complete Women’s Skeleton Results:

Bobsleigh CANADA Skeleton is a non-profit organization and the national governing body for the sports of bobsleigh and skeleton in Canada. With the support of its valued corporate partners – Karbon, Athabasca Oil Corporation in collaboration with Canada Action’s I Love Canadian Energy campaign, Leeswood Construction, Bomber LD, PX3, Kuritec, Vessi – along with the Government of Canada, Own the Podium and the Canadian Olympic Committee, Bobsleigh CANADA Skeleton develops champions in the community, on and off the track, who have a passion for bobsleigh and skeleton. Please visit us at www.bobsleighcanadaskeleton.ca.