Mirela Rahneva second in women's skeleton ahead of Olympic champion Hannah Neise
Winterberg (RWH) Skeleton athlete Kimberley Bos from the Netherlands, Olympic bronze medalist of Beijing 2022, is the women’s skeleton winner at the BMW IBSF World Cup in Winterberg. In the fourth race of the season, the defending World Cup Champion celebrated her first victory of the 2022/2023 winter.
Bos, second after the first race run, relegated previous leader Mirela Rahneva of Canada (0.06 seconds back) to second place in the second run. For the Canadian it was the second podium of the winter after her victory in December in Park City (USA).
Third place went to Olympic Champion and local hero Hannah Neise (GER, 0,16 seconds back).
Janine Flock (AUT), last year's overall World Cup runner-up, finished fifth in her first World Cup start of the season behind World Champion Tina Hermann. The three-time European Champion from Austria had to skip the races in Canada and the U.S. after a herniated disc in September. Junior World Champion Susanne Kreher (GER) moved up from 13th to sixth place in the second run.
World Cup debutant Freya Tarbit (GBR) finished seventh in her first start in the race series.
Due to injury, Kim Meylemans (BEL) made her season debut in Winterberg. The 26-year-old, who was the first skeleton athlete from her country to win a World Cup medal when she finished third in Innsbruck in 2021, finished ninth in Winterberg.
In the overall standings for the 2022/2023 BMW IBSF World Cup, Tina Hermann (GER, 803 points) leads after four of the eight races, ahead of Hannah Neise (GER, 777) and Mirela Rahneva (CAN, 763).
For more detailed information including athlete profiles and results please visit ibsf.org. Photos for editorial use can be found at Flickr. ©RWH2023
Kimberley Bos (NED, 2022 Olympic bronze medalist, 2022 World Cup overall winner).
"It's great to get the third win in a row here in Winterberg. The training was really bad and so I had to rely on my experience. After the Olympic medal, I did a lot of things I never thought I would do. But I'm still doing the same sport. And today there are a lot of Dutch people here, maybe also because now they know who I am. That's nice."
Mirela Rahneva (CAN, overall World Cup bronze medalist 2017 and 2019)
„I am happy. Any time you get on the podium it should be a happy time. Training conditions were really difficult so nobody had an idea what’s gonna happen in the race. And to have spectators again is amazing!“
Hannah Neise (GER, Olympic Champion 2022, Junior World Champion 2021)
"I just tried to stay relaxed, enjoy all this. My family is here, the first time since Covid. I also learned with the Olympic gold how to react when I get nervous. That helps a lot."
Photos: IBSF / Viesturs Lacis
