WINTERBERG, Germany — Canada captured a pair of medals at a World Cup skeleton competition on Friday.
Calgary's Elisabeth Vathje finished second in the women's event while Dave Greszczyszyn of Brampton, Ont., slid to bronze.
Vathje, who was second at the season-opener in Lake Placid this year, returned to the podium with at two-run time of one minute 56.10 seconds.
Germany's Jacqueline Loelling won gold in 1:55.86 while Russia's Elena Nikitina was third in 1:56.11.
"Training has been a massive struggle, and I just knew going into this race that I needed to have fun," said Vathje. "That was my goal today — to just really enjoy it."
She had to deal with snow in her first run down the 1,330-metre chute, finishing fourth.
"With the snow, the first run was really tricky," said Vathje. "I knew I had controlled it a bit too much in heat one, and just let it rip for run two. I just let it fly at the bottom," said Vathje, who now has eight podium finishes in her World Cup career to go along with a World Championship medal.
Ottawa's Mirela Rahneva finished fourth in 1:56.26 while North Vancouver's Jane Channell was sixth in 1:56.60.
"It is cool to see because those two girls — Jane and Mimi — are undeniably two of the best in the world," said Vathje. "We challenge each other. We help each other and we push each other to be better."
The Canadian trio are leading the skeleton world as a nation at the midway point of the World Cup season. Vathje moved into second spot in the overall World Cup standings. Rahneva sits in fourth place, while Channell is close behind in fifth spot.
Nikitina, who was banned by the International Olympic Committee for involvement in Russia's state-sponsored doping program at the 2014 Olympics, was initially suspended by the International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation last month, but it subsequently said the IOC will need to provide more details about its doping-related findings before the suspension can be justified.
Loelling says of the U-turn, "I'm being quite honest, I don't think much about it at the race. You have to simply acknowledge the performance, there's no proof (of wrongdoing) and I'm treating her normally in the meantime."
Meanwhile, Greszczyszyn was third in the one-run race with a personal-best time of 56.88.
"I've been working towards this day since my first season in 2008," said the 38-year-old. "I came close two weeks ago in Whistler, and it didn't work out. I stayed focused on the plan, had good training every day this week, and I put the runs together slowly to figure my way through every corner down this track.
Korea's Sungbin Yun won the race with a time of 56.62. Latvia's Martins Dukurs slid to the silver medal with a time of 56.68.
Kevin Boyer of Sherwood Park, Alta., was 12th while and Barrett Martineau of Calgary was 28th.
— With files from The Associated Press
The Canadian Press
