From Winterberg, GER
(January 6, 2024) – Austria’s Madeleine Egle held off a strong second effort by Julia Taubitz to win her second gold medal of the 2023/2024 FIL World Cup season.
Germany’s Taubitz trailed Egle by just over a tenth of a second after the first heat, with Hannah Prock and Anna Berreiter both in the mix for medals. As sliders came down in the second heat it became clear that the race was going to likely be tighter than the first heat results let on.
As the race got to the contenders, Berreiter took the lead with the top three still to go. Prock was up next, and the Austrian saw her lead narrow and narrow as her run went on. She crashed just past the finish line but once was righted up learned that she was the leader, by just .007.
Taubitz was next, and in a true to form slide the World Cup leader cruised to a relatively sizeable lead over Prock to secure at least a silver medal with just Egle to go.
Egle pulled off the top and was a tenth of a second ahead as she entered the first curve. That lead continued to grow until a skid late in the uphill section of the course nearly cost her the race.
Egle finished as the winner, but only by .029 over Taubitz.
As expected, Egle was thrilled after the race
“It feels amazing,” Egle told FIL’s Kate Hansen. “Winning is always great! I think it’s cool that it was so close. A close race is always more interesting!”
Prock’s bronze medal was her first podium since the 2018/2019 season in Königssee. As expected, it was a big finish for the Austrian.
“It feels great,” Prock said. “It’s been such a long time since I’ve been on the podium and it’s just really cool!'”
Berreiter finished fourth, .007 out of the medals, while Austrian Lisa Schulte finished the race in fifth.
USA’s Ashley Farquharson had two very similar runs with matching downtimes. Her first 55.968 was enough to put her in seventh after the first heat. In the second run she once again had a 55.968 and it was enough to move her up a spot into sixth.
Emily Sweeney had a bit of trouble in her first heat and was 14th going into the second run. On that second run Sweeney threw down the third quickest run of the second heat, and that effort helped move her up to eighth.
Summer Britcher had trouble late in her second run and dropped out of the top ten to finish 13th. Teammate Emma Erickson rounded out the American effort in 24th, up from 26th in the first heat.
For the Canadians, Trinity Ellis was their top finisher in 15th place. Caitlin Nash finished 25th, while Embyr-Lee Susko finished 27th after a disappointing first run.
After three races plus a sprint World Cup, Julia Taubitz leads Madeleine Egle by 55 points. Ashley Farquharson, Anna Berreiter, and Emily Sweeney round out the top five, with Summer Britcher in seventh.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Madeleine Egle | AUT | 26 | 5.032 | 5.046 | 55.632 | 55.760 | 1:51.392 |
| 2 | Julia Taubitz | GER | 29 | 5.075 | 5.117 | 55.668 | 55.753 | 1:51.421 |
| 3 | Hannah Prock | AUT | 18 | 5.135 | 5.176 | 55.742 | 55.955 | 1:51.697 |
| 4 | Anna Berreiter | GER | 27 | 5.074 | 5.066 | 55.744 | 55.960 | 1:51.704 |
| 5 | Lisa Schulte | AUT | 25 | 5.118 | 5.145 | 55.879 | 56.023 | 1:51.902 |
| 6 | Ashley Farquharson | USA | 20 | 5.137 | 5.127 | 55.968 | 55.968 | 1:51.936 |
| 7 | Elina Vitola | LAT | 22 | 5.006 | 5.031 | 55.955 | 56.093 | 1:52.048 |
| 8 | Emily Sweeney | USA | 28 | 5.102 | 5.135 | 56.295 | 55.859 | 1:52.154 |
| 9 | Natalie Maag | SUI | 24 | 5.138 | 5.149 | 56.153 | 56.035 | 1:52.188 |
| 10 | Kendija Aparjode | LAT | 23 | 5.085 | 5.106 | 56.015 | 56.175 | 1:52.190 |
| 11 | Sandra Robatscher | ITA | 17 | 5.131 | 5.137 | 56.069 | 56.198 | 1:52.269 |
| 12 | Merle Fräbel | GER | 30 | 5.092 | 5.114 | 56.166 | 56.133 | 1:52.299 |
| 13 | Summer Britcher | USA | 19 | 5.134 | 5.144 | 56.118 | 56.258 | 1:52.376 |
| 14 | Melina Fischer | GER | 15 | 5.101 | 5.118 | 56.204 | 56.338 | 1:52.542 |
| 15 | Trinity Ellis | CAN | 10 | 5.208 | 5.217 | 56.383 | 56.496 | 1:52.879 |
| 16 | Nina Zöggeler | ITA | 9 | 5.191 | 5.173 | 56.647 | 56.375 | 1:53.022 |
| 17 | Sigita Berzina | LAT | 21 | 5.038 | 5.078 | 56.552 | 56.527 | 1:53.049 |
| 18 | Barbara Allmaier | AUT | 14 | 5.190 | 5.217 | 56.557 | 56.557 | 1:53.114 |
| 19 | Ioana-Corina Buzatoiu | ROU | 11 | 5.139 | 5.163 | 56.442 | 56.818 | 1:53.260 |
| 20 | Tove Kohala | SWE | 8 | 5.184 | 5.206 | 56.700 | 56.756 | 1:53.456 |
| 21 | Verena Hofer | ITA | 13 | 5.203 | 5.099 | 57.093 | 56.650 | 1:53.743 |
| 22 | Huilan Hu | CHN | 5 | 5.184 | 5.186 | 56.942 | 56.914 | 1:53.856 |
| 23 | Klaudia Domaradzka | POL | 6 | 5.132 | 5.139 | 56.921 | 57.026 | 1:53.947 |
| 24 | Emma Erickson | USA | 2 | 5.164 | 5.177 | 56.979 | 56.978 | 1:53.957 |
| 25 | Caitlin Nash | CAN | 7 | 5.125 | 5.160 | 56.452 | 57.560 | 1:54.012 |
| 26 | Peixuan Wang | CHN | 3 | 5.111 | 5.130 | 56.977 | 57.039 | 1:54.016 |
| 27 | Embyr-Lee Susko | CAN | 16 | 5.291 | 5.184 | 58.196 | 56.433 | 1:54.629 |
| 28 | Olena Stetskiv | UKR | 4 | 5.160 | 5.141 | 57.304 | 57.442 | 1:54.746 |
| 29 | Anna Shkret | UKR | 1 | 5.253 | 5.284 | 68.203 | 58.384 | 2:06.587 |
| DNF | Franceska Bona | LAT | 12 | 5.119 | 5.153 | 56.555 | DNF |
