Elisabeth Vathje of Calgary, Alberta won a World Cup women’s skeleton bronze on Friday in St. Moritz, Switzerland. For Vathje, it was her fourth World Cup medal of the season as she has also won silver medals in Lake Placid, New York, Winterberg, Germany and Innsbruck, Austria.
Vathje posted a third place time of 2:19.89. Janine Flock of Austria won the gold medal with a time of 2:19.44. Tina Hermann of Germany won the silver medal with a score of 2:19.86.
Vathje reached the podium by three one hundredths of a second over fellow Canadian, Mirela Rahneva of Ottawa, Ontario, who finished in fourth place with a time of 2:19.92. It is clear that Vathje is putting high quality, consistent runs together where she should be considered a strong medal contender for Canada at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang next month.
Vathje currently is in second place in the World Cup women’s skeleton standings with 1318 points. Jacqueline Loelling of Germany leads with 1403 points. Loelling finished in sixth place in St. Moritz. It was only the third time in seven races this season that Loelling did not reach the podium.
The best women’s skeleton riders will be in Konigssee, Germany on Friday, January 19. That will be the final skeleton race before the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang.
