Canada's Mirela Rahneva slides to bronze at 1st skeleton World Cup of season
2-time Olympian captures 14th World Cup medal; Germany's Hermann wins gold
Canada's Mirela Rahneva started her season with some hardware.
The two-time Olympian from Ottawa claimed skeleton bronze on Friday at the first World Cup event of the campaign in Yanqing, China.
Rahneva, 35, compiled a total time of two minutes 3.99 seconds over her two runs, each of which were the third-fastest of their respective heats.
"This year, it is about regaining the joy and gratitude I have for skeleton. I am realizing I can't do this forever," Rahneva said. "I'm in it this year to love the sport for what it is and be grateful for the opportunity I have to represent Canada. Any time your flag goes up it is a good moment, so it was a good start."
WATCH | Rahneva claims bronze in China:
Germany's Tina Hermann, the reigning World Cup champion, won gold at 2:03.81, while China's Dan Zhao fell just short of top spot with silver on home ice at 2:03.83.
Rahneva's Canadian teammates Jane Channell and Hallie Clarke placed 12th and 15th, respectively. Clarke, of Belleville, Ont., was making her World Cup debut for Canada after competing last season for the U.S.
Rahneva placed fifth on the same China track at the 2022 Olympics.
"I left Beijing with some unfinished business. I didn't get to go back after Pyeongchang so to be able to come and race here again and have two good runs feels really good," Rahneva said.
Germany also captured the other two titles on offer on Friday, with Christopher Grotheer winning the men's skeleton event while Johannes Lochner and Georg Fleischhauer placed first in the two-man bobsleigh. No Canadians competed in either event.
Live coverage from China continues on Saturday at 5 a.m. ET with the four-man bobsleigh on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.
