Sigulda (RWH) Skeleton athlete Lelde Priedulena, Junior World Champion of 2016, has announced her retirement from skeleton sport. "Dear Skeleton, I feel it’s time!" wrote the 25-year-old on her Facebook page. „I want to thank you for teaching me to think out of the box and proving me that there’s no star to far and no dream too grand.“

Lelde Priedulena was the first Latvian skeleton athlete to become Junior World Champion. In her 45 appearances in the BMW IBSF World Cup between 2012 and 2019, she narrowly missed the podium several times, finishing fourth. At the BMW IBSF World Championships 2017 at Königssee and the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang (KOR), Lelde Priedulena finished seventh, respectively.

In summer 2018, the Latvian had to undergo a cruciate ligament surgery and missed the first half of the season in the BMW IBSF World Cup. Her last World Cup appearance had the European Championship sixth of 2016 in January in Innsbruck (AUT). ©RWH2019