Mirela Rahneva of Ottawa, Ontario won the bronze medal on Friday in women’s skeleton at the World Skeleton Championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland. She became the sixth Canadian woman to win a medal in the women’s skeleton event in the history of the World Championships.
Rahneva posted a four-run time over Thursday and Friday of four minutes, 34.41 seconds. She reached the podium by four one-hundredths of a second over Janine Flock of Austria, who had a fourth place time of 4:34.45. Susanne Kreher of Germany won the gold medal with a time of 4:33.57. Kim Bos of the Netherlands won the silver medal with a time of 4:33.58.
In the history of women’s skeleton at the World Championships, Canadian women have come away with one gold medal, three silver medals, and five bronze medals for nine medals overall. The other five Canadians to win a medal in women’s skeleton at the World Championships are Olympic bronze medalist Mellisa Hollingsworth of Lacombe, Alberta (silver in Igls, Austria in 2000, silver in Lake Placid, United States in 2012, and bronze in Konigssee, Germany in 2011), Michelle Kelly of Fort St. John, British Columbia (gold in Nagano, Japan in 2003, and bronze in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 2005), Lindsay Alcock of Calgary (silver in Konigssee in 2004), Sarah Reid of Calgary (bronze in St. Moritz in 2013), and Elisabeth Vathje of Calgary (bronze in Winterberg, Germany in 2015).
Hollingsworth won her bronze medal for Canada at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin. The bronze medal for Rahneva on Friday will give her confidence as she prepares for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan/Cortina d’Ampezzo.
