Form Winterberg, GER
(January 8, 2023) – Laura Nolte’s mastery of the track in Winterberg continued in the women’s bobsled event on Sunday, with Nolte leading a German sweep of the podium.
Nolte and brakewoman Neele Schuten had the fast time in both heats on their way to a .35 second victory over Lisa Buckwitz.
The gold for Nolte was her fourth straight in Winterberg in women’s bobsled. She’s won her last five races there between women’s bobsled and monobob, with a worst ever finish of bronze.
The gold was also Schuten’s first career medal as a brakewoman.
Buckwitz edged out teammate Kim Kalicki to win silver, her first career World Cup medal as a pilot. Prior to moving to the front of the sled, Buckwitz had won seven medals as a brakewoman.
Kim Kalicki won her 18th medal since 2019 with a bronze medal to compete the German sweep of the podium.
The United States’ Kaillie Humphries was the top non-German with a fourth place finish on a track that admittedly is not her favorite.
Bree Walker finished fifth, while Andreea Grecu finished sixth in their season debuts.
Cynthia Appiah led the way for Canada with a ninth place finish on the strength of a second run that was .05 quicker than her first. Teammate Bianca Ribi, making her first women’s bobsled start in Winterberg, had trouble at the start of the first heat to set she and Niamh Haughey back. Ribi rallied on the second run with the fifth quickest run of the heat and finished 12th.
Nicole Vogt finished 13th after picking up a tenth of a second on her second run. Teammate Riley Tejccek finished 15th, just ahead of Romanian Georgeta Popescu.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Nolte / Schuten | GER | 10 | 5.55 | 5.56 | 56.88 | 56.86 | 1:53.74 |
| 2 | Buckwitz / Lipperheide | GER | 4 | 5.52 | 5.50 | 57.10 | 56.99 | 1:54.09 |
| 3 | Kalicki / Fiebig | GER | 12 | 5.56 | 5.53 | 57.13 | 57.07 | 1:54.20 |
| 4 | Humphries / Love | USA | 11 | 5.57 | 5.55 | 57.18 | 57.25 | 1:54.43 |
| 5 | Walker / Blizzard | AUS | 16 | 5.65 | 5.72 | 57.51 | 57.53 | 1:55.04 |
| 6 | Grecu / Vlad | ROU | 3 | 5.77 | 5.72 | 57.74 | 57.50 | 1:55.24 |
| 7 | Hasler / Strebel | SUI | 6 | 5.66 | 5.66 | 57.74 | 57.52 | 1:55.26 |
| 8 | Huai / Wang | CHN | 15 | 5.61 | 5.60 | 57.76 | 57.53 | 1:55.29 |
| 9 | Appiah / Walkeden | CAN | 9 | 5.64 | 5.66 | 57.73 | 57.68 | 1:55.41 |
| 10 | Fontanive / Morell | SUI | 7 | 5.69 | 5.68 | 57.97 | 57.52 | 1:55.49 |
| 11 | Ying / Wang | CHN | 1 | 5.68 | 5.71 | 57.83 | 57.69 | 1:55.52 |
| 12 | Ribi / Haughey | CAN | 5 | 5.68 | 5.71 | 58.11 | 57.43 | 1:55.54 |
| 13 | Vogt / Jones | USA | 13 | 5.79 | 5.86 | 58.22 | 58.13 | 1:56.35 |
| 14 | Cernanska / Mokrasova | SVK | 2 | 5.95 | 5.90 | 58.49 | 58.15 | 1:56.64 |
| 15 | Tejcek / Renna | USA | 8 | 5.78 | 5.74 | 58.50 | 58.37 | 1:56.87 |
| 16 | Popescu / Sarbu | ROU | 14 | 6.00 | 6.00 | 58.79 | 58.36 | 1:57.15 |
