How Canada's Hallie Clarke crash-landed into a gold medal at the skeleton worlds

In hockey terms, Hallie Clarke took a hit to make a play.

The 19-year-old Canadian crashed through the finish line at the skeleton world championships last week, becoming the youngest person ever to win gold at the event.

She told CBC Sports' Rob Pizzo on Tuesday that her chaotic close was all part of the plan after entering the final run tied with Olympic champion Hannah Neise.

"It hurt, but it was worth it. As soon as I saw the time, at that point I didn't know that I had won it but I knew that I had gotten a medal and instantly pain just went away," Clarke said.

Clarke, who was born in Brighton, Ont., added that the track timing mechanism sits right at the end of the final corner, making it more clock-efficient to crash through the finish.

"Letting that happen is actually faster than steering to try to stop it, and I was like, if there was a time to let this happen and just take whatever pain comes with it, it would be for a world championship title," she said.

WATCH | Clarke wins skeleton gold at worlds:

In a way, the run encapsulated Clarke's skeleton career. She began in the sport while living in Calgary around five years ago, and represented Canada through the Beijing Olympics, where she was an alternate.

But amid the ensuing unrest with the national sport organization concerning athlete mistreatment, Clarke switched allegiances to the U.S.

She came back to Team Canada for the current season, following her personal coach Joe Cecchini, who took the head coaching role with the Canadian team.

"Every decision I made was the right decision for me at the time, and I don't regret any of it. I think it's the reason I am where I am and I'm so grateful that I can call myself world champion and I did it while repping the