Melissa Hollingsworth bows out of skeleton in style

It was not the way Melissa Hollingsworth wanted to go out. Canada's first lady of the skeleton has always believed it's much better to exit with a bang than with a whimper.

That's what happened four years ago in Vancouver when the woman expected to win gold chose to put it all on the line in her final run instead of playing it safe and settling for silver. But she had a disastrous run and fell to fifth place. Her tear-filled apology to Canadians afterwards endeared her to a nation.

There were no tears on Friday, even though the former queen of skeleton finished 11th overall at Sochi in what will be her final Olympic appearance. In fact, there were plenty of smiles as the 33-year-old Albertan soaked up the atmosphere after what was a superb final run, sporting a black Stetson.

It had not been a good competition for her. She fell way behind on the first day, in part because she admitted she chose the wrong runners for her sled on a warm Thursday afternoon.

But heading into the fourth and final run in 16th place, Hollingsworth saved her best effort for last. She flew down the track with the second-fastest time of the event, tying teammate Sarah Reid and being outperformed only by gold medal winner Lizzy Yarnold of Great Britain.

“I am very grateful that … that last run was very good," Hollingsworth said. ``At least that shows me what I was capable of. It didn’t happen, but I am very grateful for the 20 years and what this sport has done for myself and my family."

Reid's superb final run pushed her up to seventh overall.

There's no denying that Hollingsworth knows how to make an exit.

Despite competing with a torn labrum in her hip, she gave it a good shot even though she was never really in medal contention. But she did so leaving behind an incredible legacy.

She gave Canada its first medal in the women's skeleton by claiming bronze at Torino in 2006. She won the skeleton World Cup title in 2005-6 and again in 2009-10.

For years she was the face of her sport, not just in Canada but internationally.

"She has been such a great spokesman for the sport of skeleton," CBC analyst Helen Upperton said on Friday.

After her final run, Hollingsworth reflected on the past few years of her skeleton career and what the support of Canadians meant to her.

“I was 15, I was young, doing this sport because it was really fun and fast and all of a sudden the Olympic dream was a possibility,” she said. “It was Canada and my family who picked me up after Vancouver, who picked me up when I was down, and made me brave enough to carry on and come here … and to finish it off on that last run, there’s no regret.”

But despite her accomplishments, most Canadians will remember her heart-felt and emotional reaction to finishing fifth in Vancouver.

“It’s really hard,” she said, failing to hold back the tears. “I feel like I’ve let my entire country down.”

When asked if it was unfair that so much pressure had been placed on her to win gold at home, she shook her head emphatically.

“It’s not pressure," she said. "I was ready. It was just one mistake. One mistake can happen like that in the World Cup, a selection race or a training run.

“It just happened to happen at the Olympic Games.”

Her legacy will be more than a pile of World Cup medals and that Olympic bronze. It will be her incredible grace in the face of failure.