Canada's Hallie Clarke races to lead at midway point of skeleton worlds
19-year-old won world juniors at same track in 2023
Canada's Hallie Clarke seems to feel right at home in Winterberg, Germany.
The Brighton, Ont., native leads the women's skeleton event through two heats Thursday at the world championships on the same track where she won junior world gold just last year.
Clarke, 19, posted the second-fastest time in the first heat (58.20 seconds) and 10th-fastest in the second (58.97) for a combined time of one minute 57.17 seconds.
"I've only had two races before here in Winterberg," Clarke said. "I had two great starts and I think my runs were both consistent. But the fact that I'm ahead here is a total surprise for me too."
A pair of Germans currently occupy the other two podium spots, with Tabitha Stoecker in second (1:57.20) and Hannah Neise in third (1:57.23).
WATCH | Clarke stuns the field to lead worlds at midway point:
Canada's Jane Channell is in seventh place at 1:57.38 while Ottawa's Mirela Rahneva, who won two World Cup medals including one gold this season, sits ninth at 1:57.43.
World Cup leader Kimberley Bos of the Netherlands led after the first run, but had problems at the start of her second run and fell to 11th.
Clarke has been shut out of the World Cup podium this season, but the dual citizen posted two second-place finishes while competing for the U.S. last year. She moved back to the Canadian team in the off-season when it hired her personal coach Joe Cecchini.
Germany's Christopher Grotheer leads the men's event with a total time of 1:54.30 through two heats. Blake Enzie, the lone Canadian in the event, sits 24th at 1:57.27.
Live coverage of the world championships continues with the final women's skeleton heats on Friday beginning at 6 a.m. ET on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.
With files from The Canadian Press
