At 34 years old, Canada’s Mirela Rahneva has won her first major international medal.
The Ottawa skeleton racer earned bronze at the skeleton world championships on Friday in St. Moritz, Switzerland
Rahneva, the two-time Olympian, entered the final run outside of podium position in fifth place, but notched the third-fastest time of the round to earn her medal.
Fellow Canadian Jane Channell went in the opposite direction, sliding from third place after the third run all the way to sixth after her worst run of the competition.
WATCH | Rahneva claims bronze:
Mirela Rahneva of Ottawa won a bronze medal at the IBSF world championships in St. Moritz after Austria’s Janine Flock and teammate Jane Channell of North Vancouver, B.C. both faltered in their final runs.
Germany’s Susanne Kreher won gold with a total time of four minutes 33.57 seconds, while Dutch racer Kimberley Bos scored silver just one one-hundredth of a second behind.
Across three previous world championships dating to 2017, Rahneva had never placed better than eighth in individual competitions. She was part of a Canadian squad that won silver in a team event in 2019.
Rahneva also placed fifth at the Beijing Olympics, a sign of things to come for the current World Cup season in which she ranks second after reaching the podium in two of six races.
She won gold last month in Utah.
WATCH | Full coverage of the women’s fourth heat:
Watch the final heat of the women’s skeleton competition at the 2023 IBSF world championships from St. Moritz, Switzerland.
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