From Lillehammer, NOR
(January 11, 2024) – Germany’s Corinna Leipold slid to victory as part of a German sweep of the women’s Europe Cup skeleton race in Lillehammer.
Leipold took a .15 second lead over teammate Viktoria Hansova, with Sarah Schwab in third, just .05 behind Hansova.
In the second heat Schwab closed the gap slightly on Hansova, but Hansova still took the lead by .04 over Schwab.
Leipold made it look academic with her second run. She picked up .02 off her start, and by the third split of the second run she was in control of the race. Her second downtime was .07 quicker than her first, giving her the two fastest runs of the heat on her way to a .54 second victory over Hansova.
Leipold’s victory was her third of the season. She has yet to finish off of the podium this season.
Hansova’s silver was her fourth straight medal in five races this season, while Schwab’s bronze was her first medal since a victory to start the season in Bludenz.
China grabbed the first two spots off the podium, with Siji Song and Yangqi Zhu in fourth and fifth, while Germany’s Stefanie Votz rounded out the top six.
Great Britain’s Isabella Fassnidge had trouble in the first heat and finished that heat in 12th place. Her second run was the second quickest of th e heat to move her up to eighth place. Teammate Ashlyn Bland finished 11th.
Michelle Toukan, the lone American in the field, finished 12th, up from 13th in the first heat.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Finish |
| 1 | Corinna Leipold | GER | 12 | 5.23 | 5.21 | 53.10 | 53.03 | 1:46.13 |
| 2 | Viktoria Hansova | GER | 8 | 5.22 | 5.22 | 53.25 | 53.42 | 1:46.67 |
| 3 | Sarah Schwab | GER | 7 | 5.26 | 5.24 | 53.30 | 53.41 | 1:46.71 |
| 4 | Siji Song | CHN | 4 | 5.31 | 5.27 | 53.43 | 53.49 | 1:46.92 |
| 5 | Yanqing Zhu | CHN | 10 | 5.13 | 5.12 | 53.60 | 53.48 | 1:47.08 |
| 6 | Stefanie Votz | GER | 5 | 5.55 | 5.53 | 53.69 | 53.48 | 1:47.17 |
| 7 | Hanna Staub | GER | 13 | 5.30 | 5.30 | 53.74 | 53.56 | 1:47.30 |
| 8 | Isabella Fassnidge | GER | 15 | 5.24 | 5.23 | 53.94 | 53.39 | 1:47.33 |
| 9 | Carolin Andrä | SUI | 20 | 5.26 | 5.25 | 53.76 | 53.78 | 1:47.54 |
| 10 | Annia Unterscheider | AUT | 17 | 5.48 | 5.47 | 53.90 | 53.81 | 1:47.71 |
| 11 | Ashlyn Bland | GBR | 6 | 5.23 | 5.22 | 53.85 | 53.94 | 1:47.79 |
| 12 | Michelle Toukan | USA | 11 | 5.13 | 5.15 | 53.96 | 54.00 | 1:47.96 |
| 13 | Aline Pelckmans | BEL | 2 | 5.32 | 5.32 | 53.89 | 54.15 | 1:48.04 |
| 13 | Darta Zunte | EST | 19 | 5.33 | 5.26 | 54.04 | 54.00 | 1:48.04 |
| 15 | Yuxin Liang | CHN | 18 | 5.25 | 5.23 | 54.26 | 54.18 | 1:48.44 |
| 16 | Nicole Burger | RSA | 16 | 5.27 | 5.29 | 54.33 | 54.28 | 1:48.61 |
| 17 | Angel Osakue | ITA | 9 | 5.29 | 5.29 | 54.76 | 54.98 | 1:49.74 |
| 18 | Annelies van Dijk | NED | 14 | 5.27 | 5.28 | 55.16 | 54.87 | 1:50.03 |
| 19 | Alessia Gatti | ITA | 3 | 5.03 | 5.13 | 54.72 | 55.43 | 1:50.15 |
| 20 | Florijn de Haas | NED | 1 | 5.90 | 6.07 | 56.36 | 56.10 | 1:52.46 |
| DNS | Sofiia Hehekha | UKR | 21 | DNS |
