Elisabeth Maier Finishes Fifth in World Cup Skeleton

IGLS, Aut.—Elisabeth Maier edged closer to her first podium since returning to the skeleton World Cup circuit after a one-year maternity leave with a solid fifth-place finish in Igls, Austria on Friday.

The Calgary-based Olympian finished just two spots out of the medals after rocketing down the 1,478-metre track in a two-run time of 1:47.28.

“My goal today was to get a top-10 so I’m definitely happy with the top-six finish,” said Maier. “I know all of the heavy hitters are here so being just five-hundredths away from the podium is really great.”

Calm and poised at the start line, the 26-year-old Maier was in fourth place after her first trip down the relatively flat Austrian track. In a scrap for the podium with a handful of World Championship and World Cup medallists, Maier dropped one spot on the final results sheet despite posting matching start times of 5.39 in both heats.

“The key was just to relax as much as possible and really remember my processes and game plan for heat two,” added Maier. “I now need to be more consistent in key curves to fight for that podium and push a smidge faster. Finding consistency is key, and re-learning to be jello on my sled.”

Austria’s Janine Flock successfully defended her home track, winning the gold medal with a time of 1:47.01. Kimberly Bos, of The Netherlands, slid to the silver medal for the second-straight week in Igls. Bos clocked-in at 1:47.22. Germany’s Jacqueline Loelling jumped two spots up the leaderboard in her final run to win the bronze at 1:47.23.

Elisabeth Maier, who is married to Austrian bobsleigh athlete Ben Maier, was the lone Canadian to compete in the two skeleton events before the holiday break. Maier finished seventh in her first race back last week since giving birth to her son, Hendrix.

Women’s Skeleton Results: https://www.ibsf.org/en/component/events/event/501251

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