Canada’s Rahneva, Channell in podium position halfway through skeleton worlds | CBC Sports

A pair of Canadians have medals in sight at the women’s skeleton world championships.

Mirela Rahneva and Jane Channell sit in second and third place, respectively, after two runs Thursday at the competition in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

Germany’s Susanne Kreher currently occupies the gold-medal position, with Dutch racer Kimberley Bos lingering just four one-hundredths of a second behind Channell in fourth.

Rahneva, the 34-year-old from Ottawa, moved up the leaderboard with the second-fastest second run in the field. Her total time of two minutes 16.77 seconds trails only Kreher at 2:16.38.

WATCH | Full highlights from the women’s 2nd run:

IBSF world championships 2023 St. Moritz: Women’s skeleton heat 2

Watch the second of four heats of the women’s skeleton competition, at the 2023 IBSF world championships from St. Moritz, Switzerland.

Meanwhile, a steady performance from Channell, also 34 from North Vancouver, B.C., has her clocking in at 2:16.88.

Neither Canadian woman has ever reached a podium at a major international event, though both have medals in team competitions.

In the men’s event, Blake Enzie, the 21-year-old from Calgary, is the top Canadian in 22nd place. Evan Neufeldt, a 35-year-old from Saskatoon, sits 28th. Neither qualified for the final two runs.

Live action from Switzerland resumes Friday at 3 a.m. ET with the third men’s run. The women’s competition picks back up at 7:30 a.m. ET. Full coverage of the world championships is available on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.