Nicole Silveira, 31, from Rio Grande do Sul, was among the eleven best skeleton athletes at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games, improving her result in the competition compared to the previous edition.
In Beijing-2022, the first Brazilian to reach the podium in World Cup stages had been in 13th place.
This Saturday (14), she completed two more laps sliding on the sled at high speed on the ice circuit in Cortina d’Ampezzo, with the times adding to those of the two laps already carried out on Friday (15), when she finished in 12th place in the general classification.
In the total of four laps, Nicole, who is currently ninth in the world rankings, finished with a time of 3min51s82.
It is Brazil’s third best result in the history of the Winter Games, and the first in snow sports, behind only Lucas Pinheiro Braathen’s gold in alpine skiing, and Isabel Clark’s ninth place in snowboard cross in Turin-2006.
The champion was Austrian Janine Flock, with a time of 3min49s02. Germans Susanne Kreher (3min49s32) and Jacqueline Pfeifer (3min49s46) completed the podium.
Wife of the Brazilian and also in the skeleton race in Milan-Cortina, Belgian Kim Meylemans, two-time European champion and current World Cup champion, came in sixth place, with 3min50s67.
Although she took fourth place at the 2025 World Cup in the United States, Nicole stated that 11th place at the Winter Games was a result that she considered unlikely.
“In these last four years, there has been an ‘up’ in the competitiveness of women’s skerleton. Many who have been here for a long, long time have continued. The competitiveness is at the next level. So, for me, an 11th is almost, I thought, impossible”, he stated in an interview with SporTV shortly after the race.
She also said that she intends to work alongside her wife in the coming years in search of new talents to compete in the Youth Games, which will also be held in Cortina d’Ampezzo. “My plan is to try to find young people between 15 and 17 years old to compete. That will be the focus,” said Nicole.
