Humphries Edges Nolte for Altenberg Gold

From Altenberg, GER

(January 22, 2023) – Kaillie Humphries’ mastery of Altenberg was on full display yet again on Sunday, as the American put down a pair of strong runs to win gold.

Humphries and brakewoman Kaysha Love were quick off the top in both heats, but it was their second start that made the difference in the race. The duo’s 5.71 was only .01 off the time set by Laura Nolte and Neele Schuten, as the German duo had just set the quick start and quick downtime of the competition.

Humphries didn’t need to be the fastest on her second run, but just needed to be clean. And that she was, as the American’s second run was enough to give her yet another Altenberg gold medal, beating Nolte by .02.

The victory for Humphries was her sixth World Cup win in the two-woman sled in Altenberg. She also has a pair of World Championship gold medals to go with that set.

For Nolte, the silver was her fifth straight medal after a fourth place finish in Whistler to start the season.

Swiss pilot Melanie Hasler put down a pair of strong starts with Nadja Pasternack back on her brakes. The duo used those and a really smooth second drive by Hasler to move from fourth after one run into the medals for bronze.

Germany’s Kim Kalicki had a bumpy set of runs and fell out of the medals on her second run and finished fourth.

Romania’s Andreea Grecu finished the race in fifth which tied a personal best in Altenberg, while China’s Qing Ying rounded out the top six.

Canada’s Cynthia Appiah improved her downtime in the second heat and finished seventh, up from ninth in the first heat. Part of that climb was due to a crash by teammate Bianca Ribi, who was late out of the Kreisel and went over. Ribi did, however, finish and get a time and was credited with a 12th pace finish.

American Nicole Vogt finished 11th with two clean runs down the Altenberg track in her first two seater start on the track.

Switzerland’s Martina Fontanive crashed on her first run, and while she received a downtime she chose not to take a second run. She joined Germany’s Lisa Buckwitz with a DNS, as Buckwitz crashed hard in the prior day’s monobob race and was feeling a tick under the weather.

With two races to go in the women’s bobsled season, the season points race is tight between Kim Kalicki, Laura Nolte, and Kaillie Humphries. Kalicki leads Nolte by just five points, while it’s only another five points back to Humphries in third.

Results: