Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton —Jane Channell drops to 13th, Lanette Prediger places 19th—

 

IGLS, Aut.—Canada’s Elisabeth Vathje had her best result of the season with a sixth-place finish at the Skeleton World Championships in Igls, Austria on Saturday.

 

Struggling to find her elite form that saw her win a bronze medal at the premiere international skeleton race one year ago, the Calgarian demonstrated her potential in Igls after clocking a sixth-place time of 3:37.48.

 

Vathje had posted the fifth, eighth, third and sixth fastest times in each of her four runs over the last two days on the 1,478-metre track located near Innsbruck, Austria.

Vathje had a dream rookie season on the World Cup one year ago that saw her capture one gold and three silver medals on the World Cup before capping the season off with a bronze at World Championships. One of her silvers came in Igls. The story has been far different this year for the 21 year old who has been fighting her way into the top-10. Saturday’s result shows signs there are nothing but good times ahead for Vathje on the road to 2018.

Tina Hermann has been dominant all year, and Saturday was no different as the German slid into the women’s skeleton winner’s circle with a time of 3:36.50. Austria’s Janine Flock thrilled the hometown crowd with a silver-medal performance, and a time of 3:36.96. Russia’s Elena Nikitina rounded out the women’s podium in third place with a time of 3:37.09.

It was a tough World Championships for North Vancouver’s Jane Channell. In the mix for the medals all season long, which was highlighted with her first career bronze, Channell made a costly mistake at the bottom of her second run that dropped her from sixth to 18th at the completion of the opening day. The 27 year old didn’t go down without a fight, and climbed back into 13th place with a time of 3:38.50.

Calgary’s Lanette Prediger rounded out the Canadian contingent with a 19th-place finish at 3:40.43.

The 2016 Bobsleigh and Skeleton World Championships wrap up on Sunday in Igls, with the four-woman exhibition race, followed by the final two runs of the four-man bobsleigh race.

Bobsleigh CANADA Skeleton is a non-profit organization and the national governing body for the sports of bobsleigh and skeleton in Canada. With the support of its valued corporate partners – Adidas, Eurotech – Viking Engineering, BMW Canada, The Globe and Mail, Conceptum Sport Logistics, Therapeutica – along with the Government of Canada, Own the Podium, and SAIT Polytechnic. Bobsleigh CANADA Skeleton develops Olympic and world champions. Please visit us at www.bobsleighcanadaskeleton.ca.  

 

Complete Results: www.fibt.com

Top-Five Women’s Skeleton and Canadian Results:

1. Tina Hermann, GER, 3:36.50; 2. Janine Flock, AUT, 3:36.96; 3. Elena Nikitina, RUS, 3:37.09; 4. Marina Gilardoni, SUI, 3:37.34; 5. Anne O’Shea, USA, 3:37.37

Other Canadian Results:

6. Elisabeth Vathje, Calgary, 3:37.48; 13. Jane Channell, North Vancouver, 3:38.50; 19. Lanette Prediger, Calgary, 3:40.43.

 

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FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Chris Dornan

Media and Public Relations

Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton

T: 403-620-8731