Canada's Mirela Rahneva finishes 4th at skeleton event in Germany
CBC Sports | Posted: January 13, 2023 1:10 PM | Last Updated: January 13, 2023
Ottawa native was 3rd after 1st run in Altenberg event
Canadian Mirela Rahneva will have to wait another week to try and crack the podium at Altenberg track.
The Ottawa native finished fourth in the women's skeleton event on Friday at the German course, just missing out on a bronze medal.
"I'm very happy to finish fourth when I think back to previous results here. I'm really proud of my first run being within the medals," Rahneva said in a press release.
"I've had a fairly difficult time in Altenberg in past seasons. I'll even go as far as admitting to being very scared of this track from previous crashes and bad races I've had here."
Rahneva was third after the first run, but was unable to hold onto that spot after her second attempt down the track and finished with a two-run combined time of one minute 57.61 seconds. That was just 0.16 behind Dutch slider Kimberly Bos, who finished in 1:57.45 for the bronze.
Germany's Tina Hermann (1:56.23) took gold in convincing fashion, finishing more than a full second ahead of her nearest competitor, fellow German competitor Suzanne Kreher.
WATCH | Rahneva slides to 4th:
Rahneva is third in the overall standings with 955 points, behind Hermann (1028) and Bos (961).
Action continues this weekend in Altenberg with men's skeleton and bobsleigh events. Another World Cup event is scheduled to begin on Jan. 20.
In men's action, Canada's top finisher was Evan Neufeldt, who finished 18th with a total time of 1:56.10. Right behind the Saskatoon native, Mark Lynch (St. John's) registered a time of 1:56.35 to place 19th.
Matt Weston of Great Britain took gold at 1:52.44.
Two Germans rounded out the podium, with Christopher Grotheer grabbing silver (1:52.28), and teammate Axel Jungk taking bronze (1:52.64).