Marina Gilardoni (born 4 March 1987) is a Swiss skeleton racer and former bobsleigh brakewoman. After starting her sporting career in heptathlon at the club level, Gilardoni began racing bobsleigh in 2007 and earned a place on the Swiss national team.[2] She won gold medals at the Junior World Championships in 2008 behind driver Fabienne Meyer and in 2010 with Sabina Hafner driving. After the 2009–10 season, she switched from bobsleigh to skeleton.[3] In 2018, Gilardoni was selected to represent Switzerland in the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang after the Dutch Olympic Committee refused one of their two entries and it was reallocated to Switzerland.[4]

Marina Gilardoni
Gilardoni in 2020
Personal information
NationalitySwiss
Born (1987-03-04) 4 March 1987 (age 37)
Goldingen, Switzerland
Height165 cm (5 ft 5 in)[1]
Weight65 kg (143 lb)[1]
Websitewww.marina-gilardoni.ch
Sport
CountrySwitzerland
SportBobsleigh (2007–2010)
Skeleton (2011–present)
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals18th (2014 Sochi)
11th (2018 Pyeongchang)
Highest world ranking5th (2015–16 Skeleton World Cup)
Medal record
Bobsleigh
Junior World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2008 Igls Two women
Gold medal – first place 2010 St. Moritz Two women
Skeleton
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2020 Altenberg Women
European Championships
Silver medal – second place 2020 Sigulda Women
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Königssee Women

Notable results

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Gilardoni's only podium finishes in bobsleigh were the two Junior World Championship wins. After switching to skeleton, she spent the 2010–11 season on the Europe Cup circuit but was quickly promoted to the Swiss World Cup squad for 2011–12, with the goal of maintaining the Swiss athlete quota in the World Cup.[2] At her first World Cup race (Igls 2011), Gilardoni finished 14th.[3] She competed in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi,[5] finishing 18th. Gilardoni's most successful season was 2015–16, when she earned four podiums (silver at Lake Placid and bronzes at Königssee and St. Moritz) on the way to an overall season ranking of fifth. Since then, her performance has been hampered by a nagging back injury,[1] Gilardoni won the Swiss national championship at St. Moritz in December 2017, by six seconds over Alena Huber.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Stahlhacke, Angela (13 December 2017). "Media Guide Athletes: Skeleton — Innsbruck (AUT)" (PDF). International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  2. ^ a b Gilardoni, Marina. "About me". Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Marina GILARDONI". International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation. Archived from the original on 16 July 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  4. ^ "Swiss Olympic a effectué ses sélections olympiques en bob, luge et skeleton" (PDF) (Press release) (in French). Swiss Olympic Association. 17 January 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  5. ^ Marina Gilardoni – Switzerland Archived 13 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine – Sochi 2014 Olympics
  6. ^ "Schweizermeisterschaft (Skeleton Frauen)" (PDF). St. Moritz-Celerina Olympia Bobrun. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
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