Canada’s Hallie Clarke is the new world champion of women’s skeleton.
The 19-year-old from Brighton, Ont., captured gold on Friday in Winterberg, Germany to become the youngest person ever to claim the world title in the event.
Clarke — who won junior world championship gold on the same track last year — posted a four-run combined time of three minutes 51.27 seconds to win the world title.
Belgium’s Kim Meylemans took silver at 3:51.49, while Germany’s Hannah Neise rounded out the podium with bronze at 3:51.53.
Clarke, who failed to reach the podium in any World Cup event this season, held a slim lead through two heats. She even admitted Thursday that her placing was a “total surprise” to her too.
But the champion was saving her best for last. Heading into the fourth and final heat, Clarke and Neise were all knotted up atop the leaderboard.
That’s when Clarke put down the fastest run of the event, becoming the only competitor to break the 57-second barrier with her time of 56.93 seconds.
After Neise struggled on her final run, Clarke became the youngest women’s skeleton world champion ever crowned.
“It’s crazy, it still feels like a dream. It was my goal today just to have fun no matter what. I never expected to be in this position,” Clarke said. “I have been very nervous, I’m still shaking from all the adrenaline, but I tried to remind myself that I love sliding and racing.”
WATCH | Clarke becomes youngest female world champion in skeleton:
Canadian teen Hallie Clarke becomes youngest female world champion in skeleton
4 hours ago
Duration 6:36
19-year-old Hallie Clarke of Brighton, Ont., followed up on her under-20 world junior championship skeleton win last year in Winterberg, Germany by winning gold at the 2024 world championships on the same track.
Neise said she was happy to be on the podium on her home track.
“Gold would have been nice, but it was my goal to win a medal here in front of my home crowd. Hallie simply [executed] a mega-strong race, she totally deserved it,” she said.
Ottawa’s Mirela Rahneva, who claimed two World Cup medals on the season, finished seventh with a time of 3:51.63. Jane Channell of North Vancouver, B.C., was 11th at 3:52.72.
It was a winding road to the top of the podium for Clarke — both literally and figuratively.
Though still a teenager, Clarke has resided in Calgary, Boston, Buffalo and elsewhere with her family after being born in Ontario.
She only discovered skeleton about five years ago after seeing a sign in Calgary’s Winsport Arena.
“I happened to see this ‘Learn to push’ sign and I was like, ‘That sounds so Canadian. I have to try this.’ And then I tried it once and then I just kind of kept going and never stopped,” she told CBC Sports last November.
Clarke quickly caught on with the national team. She was an alternate at the 2022 Olympics, though she never even flew out to Beijing.
But when fellow sliding athletes began calling out Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton (BCS) for its mistreatment of athletes, Clarke made the decision to switch allegiances to a more stable environment with Team USA, for whom she’d seek American citizenship in an effort to compete at the 2026 Olympics.
She enjoyed some success in the red, white and blue, claiming silver at the World Cup in Whistler, B.C., and placing 10th at the 2023 world championships.
Then, BCS overhauled its staff, naming Clarke’s longtime personal coach Joe Cecchini as its skeleton lead. With the added comfort level, and still early in a citizenship process that could be drawn out, Clarke came back to Team Canada ahead of the 2023-24 campaign.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
—
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
