From Deutschnofen, ITA
(February 11, 2023) – Evelin Lanthaler slid to gold in the 2023 FIL World Championships on natural track in Duetschnofen, holding off two familiar foes to take top honors.
The first heat was close, with Lanthaler only .21 ahead of Austria’s Tina Unterberger and .29 ahead of Italian teammate Greta Pinggera. Austria’s Michelle Diepold ended her first heat lingering around the medal conversation in fourth.
On the second run Pinggera slid well, well enough to pick off Unterberger after the Austrian made a few mistakes on her second run.
On the third run Pinggera pulled away from Unterberger, but Lanthaler was the quickest in all three heats on her way to a 1.53 second victory over Pinggera, with Unterberger 1.89 seconds back in third.
The gold medal for Lanthaler was her third straight world championship and fourth in five attempts. For Pinggera, the only other woman to win a world title over that time, the silver medal was her fourth world championship medal.
Unterberger’s bronze was her fourth straight.
Daniela Mittermair finished the event in fourth place, just ahead of Lisa Walch in fifth. Michelle Diepold rounded out the top six.
Katie Cookman, the lone American in the field, finished 13th, three spots ahead of Canadian Nadja Loder.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Evelin Lanthaler | ITA | 14 | 16.53 | 16.60 | 55.49 | 55.13 | 1:50.62 |
| 2 | Greta Pinggera | ITA | 17 | 16.77 | 16.66 | 55.78 | 55.70 | 1:51.48 |
| 3 | Tina Unterberger | AUT | 16 | 16.70 | 16.71 | 55.70 | 56.03 | 1:51.73 |
| 4 | Daniela Mittermair | ITA | 18 | 16.91 | 16.91 | 56.27 | 56.40 | 1:52.67 |
| 5 | Lisa Walch | GER | 13 | 16.90 | 17.03 | 56.21 | 56.52 | 1:52.73 |
| 6 | Michelle Diepold | AUT | 15 | 16.87 | 17.02 | 56.01 | 56.75 | 1:52.76 |
| 7 | Jenny Castiglioni | ITA | 6 | 17.13 | 16.99 | 56.85 | 57.73 | 1:54.58 |
| 8 | Nadine Staffler | ITA | 12 | 17.06 | 17.21 | 57.61 | 57.37 | 1:54.98 |
| 9 | Anastasiya Slyusr | UKR | 3 | 17.41 | 17.23 | 58.45 | 58.11 | 1:56.56 |
| 10 | Sarah Schiller | GER | 10 | 17.59 | 17.51 | 58.66 | 58.36 | 1:57.20 |
| 11 | Meta Mekina | SLO | 11 | 17.77 | 18.05 | 60.08 | 60.12 | 2:00.20 |
| 12 | Julia Plowy | POL | 4 | 18.12 | 18.85 | 61.75 | 61.47 | 2:03.22 |
| 13 | Katie Cookman | USA | 5 | 19.44 | 18.68 | 64.93 | 63.13 | 2:08.06 |
| 14 | Patricija Urbanc | CRO | 9 | 18.12 | 18.42 | 61.07 | 70.37 | 2:11.44 |
| 15 | Paulina Lipinska | POL | 2 | 19.81 | 19.20 | 67.96 | 65.08 | 2:13.04 |
| 16 | Nadja Loder | CAN | 7 | 19.46 | 19.45 | 66.65 | 66.78 | 2:13.43 |
| 17 | Juri Mizuno | SUI | 1 | 31.94 | 32.68 | 123.44 | 113.49 | 3:56.93 |
| DNS | Alexandra Verena | AUT | 8 | DNS |
