SKELETON SKILLS
Canadian slides to victory
The Mellisa Hollingsworth and Sarah Reid era officially ended in 2014, leaving the Canadian skeleton team without a star.
In Canada, Own the Podium divvies up government funding based on results, doling out $3.5 million to the skeleton program over the four years leading up to the 2014 Winter Games. In the three years since Sochi — where Reid finished seventh and Hollingsworth 11th — that number has plummeted to just $382,500.
But lack of funding hasn’t stopped two Canadian women from rocketing to the top of the podium. On Friday in St. Moritz, Switzerland, rookie Mirela Rahneva captured her first World Cup gold with a sizzling two-run time of two minutes, 16.53 seconds, more than 1.5 seconds ahead of silver medallist Kendall Wesenberg of the United States.
A second is an eternity in skeleton, never mind a second-anda-half. Calgary’s Elisabeth Vathje finished just off the podium in fourth, but she already has two World Cup victories in 2016-17. In five World Cup races this season, Canada has won gold three times. Rahneva also has two bronze medals in her first five World Cup races.
“Today was incredible,” she told Postmedia.
“Watching the Canadian flag go up and knowing it was because of my efforts made me feel so proud and privileged. It’s definitely been a lot of hard work getting here and never would I have thought I would be on the podium in my first season, let alone win a race.”
Rahneva, 28, is a wedding planner by trade. The Ottawa product works in the catering department at Winsport’s Canada Olympic Park in Calgary to help pay roughly $20,000 in team fees.
During the off-season, she routinely logs 13-hour day, with training in the morning followed by an evening shift of setting up tables, pouring coffee and tending to the logistics of weddings, bar mitzvahs and corporate parties.
“It’s hard, but it just becomes your regular life,” she told Postmedia before heading out on the World Cup circuit. “It’s a grind. You’re sore, and you’re beat up. Sometimes you crash, and you’re a bit achy. But I love it.”
So does Vathje. The 22-yearold slider burst onto the World Cup circuit in 2014-15 with five podium performances, including gold on her home track in Calgary. Then came the sophomore slump. The highest she finished last year was sixth.
“Oh gosh, it was terrible,” Vathje said. “Around Christmastime, I was ready to be done with the sport, which is silly because I was still in the top 10 overall. But when you come off those podiums, it’s hard to accept your performance and accept that it’s the best I could do last season.”
Down and dejected, Vathje turned to her family for support and returned to the basics. She spent time with Carla Pavan, who coached her as a development athlete. She also started dating Benjamin Maier, an Austrian bobsled pilot who was struggling and disillusioned.
Maier won World Cup silver last week in the four-man at Winterberg, Germany, on the same track where Vathje claimed gold.
“Both of us have had a very successful season so far,” she said. “So that’s cool. I’m really excited to see what happens in the next year and a bit. Obviously, my goal is to be Olympic champion, but I still have so many steps I need to take until then.”
Back in Calgary, Vathje lives during the off-season in her mom and dad’s basement to save money to pay her team fees, which come in at about $8,500 annually.
“To be coming up with podiums is really cool, but it’s also incredibly frustrating,” she said. “How long can we physically be in the sport if we’re paying down payments on houses to represent our nation? I paid $10,000 for a sled. The runners on the sled, the bit that touches the ice, cost $750 a pair and can be ruined on one run. … It’s scary to put the numbers down, and then you realize how much you’re putting into the sport.”
So Vathje is focusing on numbers of a different kind — on slashing fractions of seconds off her run times and going faster than ever before. Coupled with Rahneva’s success, she hopes the money will soon start to flow again with Canada poised to contend for skeleton medals at the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
“This is the first time in many years we’ve had two Canadians on the podium,” Vathje said. “And Jane Channell is just as strong, she’s just had some bad luck, honestly. Our women’s field is so strong, and yet I know for a fact my teammates are having to choose between team fees and groceries. And that’s kind of ridiculous.”
Our women’s field is so strong, and yet I know for a fact my teammates are having to choose between team fees and groceries.