North Vancouver skeleton racer Jane Channell scored a 10th-place finish in her first trip to the Olympic Games.
The Handsworth grad finished one spot behind Elisabeth Vathje, the top Canadian, as skeleton wrapped up Saturday at the Olympic Sliding Centre in South Korea. Channell clocked a cumulative time of 3:29.07 through her four runs, finishing 1.79 seconds behind gold medal winner Lizzy Yarnold of Great Britain. Germany鈥檚 Jacqueline Loelling won silver while Yarnold鈥檚 teammate Laura Deas took home bronze.
Channell, a 29-year-old who participated in track and field and softball at SFU before getting into skeleton, posted a message on her Instagram account following the race detailing what a thrill it was to compete for sa国际传媒 at the Olympics.
鈥渟a国际传媒 runs through my veins and I couldn't be more proud!鈥� she wrote. 鈥淢y heart is so full, I truly mean it!! Thank you for all the love and support!! It takes a village, you all have helped me get to where I am today!鈥�
She鈥檚 kept busy in South Korea since her event, participating in a Team sa国际传媒 Champion Chat with students across the country live from sa国际传媒 Olympic House. She also made a cameo appearance in the viral video of figure skating legend Scott Moir, beer in hand, barking at the referees during the gold medal women鈥檚 hockey game. You can see Channell in the top left corner of the screen, taking in the action beside fellow skeleton racer Mirela Rahneva.
Channell came into the Olympics ranked fifth overall through eight races on the World Cup circuit.