Canada's Hollingsworth wins bronze at skeleton World Cup race

Canadian Mellisa Hollingsworth won a bronze medal Friday at a skeleton World Cup in Germany.

Shelly Rudman of Britain finished half a second ahead of Marion Thees of Germany for her first skeleton World Cup victory in a year. Her last win came at St. Moritz, Switzerland, last January.

Rudman finished in a two-run time of one minute 46.15 seconds, while Thees finished in 1:46.65 and Hollingsworth was third in 1:47.19.

"It was OK today, but I didn't slide very well," Hollingsworth said. "You always have to be happy with a podium but I'm disappointed because I know I can slide better.

"Being competitive, I think that is the itch we have inside of us is that we are perfectionists, but it is great to be on the podium for sure."

Amy Gough of Abbotsford, B.C., was 11th, while Calgary's Sarah Reid was 17th.

Thees' second-place finish moved her past Hollingsworth to the top of the season standings after five of eight races.

Hollingsworth, a native of Eckville, Alta., is nine points behind Thees, who has 938 points overall.

The medal was No. 30 in Hollingsworth's 17-year career. She won bronze on the same track at last year's world championships.

"I think that is really neat," she said. "We don't get multiple opportunities to win medals at each World Cup stop in our sport so I think this is a pretty cool achievement."