Nicole Silveira from Rio Grande do Sul made history when she won, this Saturday (16), bronze in the skeleton World Cup stage in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The podium is the first for Brazil in winter sports World Cups.
The athlete had an ample recovery between the two descents on the sled. In the first, it took 54s56 to cover the 1,659 meter track (with a difference in level of 80 m) and finish the partial in 13th place, among 38 competitors.
The second descent time was much better, 53s98. It was enough to, in the sum of the timers (1min48s54), take her to third position. Nicole also had the ice conditions in her favor, which got much worse after her second attempt and contributed to her opponents falling in the general classification.
The British Amelia Coltman took the gold and the Austrian Janine Flock took the silver.
The result is already the best personal record for the Brazilian, who previously held a seventh place at the Innsbruck stage, in Austria, in 2023. She was also at the Beijing-2022 Winter Games, where she finished in 13th position.
Born in the city of Rio Grande (RS), Nicole moved to Canada at the age of seven, where she has lived ever since. She played football and rugby and participated in some bodybuilding shows before discovering skeleton in 2017. In addition to ice descents, the Olympic athlete works as a nurse in the city of Calgary, in southwestern Canada.
