Belgian Kim Meylemans takes skeleton world title
Belgian athlete Kim Meylemans has become the world champion in the winter sport known as skeleton.
Might we refresh your memory: skeleton is a winter sport in which an athlete lies face down and head forward on a sled, twisting and turning down an ice track at breakneck speeds. Doesn’t that sound like a whole lot of fun?
The 29-year-old Kim Meylemans is the Belgian poster girl for the sport, taking the skeleton world by storm. It seems she will stop at nothing: first the European title, now the world title. Having won two world cup legs (in Latvia and in Switzerland), a third place was enough in the final leg to seal the deal. From Belgium with love. Our country can now dream of a Winter Olympics medal in the discipline, as she joins the ranks of Team Belgium for the third time.
Skeleton is not a much-practiced sport in Belgium, with only a handful of athletes according to the Belgian Federation for Bobsledding and Skeleton, but it seems fair to say that our country’s athletes in the sport are destined for greatness.
If you want an idea of what the experience is like, you can watch this vlog by Belgian YouTuber Average Rob, who filmed his first attempt at skeleton from a first-person perspective.