From Winterberg, GER
(December 7, 2025) – It was going to take something special to bump Austria’s Hannah Prock off the top of the podium in Winterberg on Sunday, and that something nearly came on the sled of Merle Fräbel.
Entering the second heat there was a very real chance of Germany being shutout of the podium. Prock led teammate Dorothea Schwarz, with Latvia’s Elina Bota in third. Fräbel was the first German in fourth, with the remainder of the German contingent filling in parts of the top ten.
The track was quicker in the second heat, with most everyone able to find time compared to their first run. Anna Berreiter was .3 quicker in her second run and that was enough to give her the lead from teammate Anka Jänicke and then hold it as Julia Taubitz and Lisa Schulte both failed to match her pace.
Berreiter was eventually unseated by Fräbel, whose second run would be the quickest of the heat. Brerreiter then watched on as neither Bota nor Schwarz were able to match her two-run time.
That left Hannah Prock alone at the top in search of her first World Cup gold medal. The Austrian was quick off the top and showed the same form she’d had in the first heat. But throughout the run she came back to Fräbel, and as she made her way through the Labyrinth the gap had closed to .030. That’s where it would remain, and Prock took her first gold medal of her World Cup career, ahead of Fräbel and Dorothea Schwarz, who rounded out the podium.
“This was really amazing,” Prock said after the race. “I was so nervous at the start, but I finished well and it was fun sliding today! ”
Despite missing out on gold, Fräbel was happy with her effort.
“I couldn’t hope for a better start of the season,” Fräbel told FIL TV after the race. “I would have liked the win, but it was a good day. Track conditions were really similar to training and that helped.”
Though she missed out on the podium, Berreiter put down the second quickest run of the second heat to move up from seventh to fourth. Lisa Schulte helped put three Austrians in the top five with a fifth place finish, while Jänicke rounded out the top six.
Julia Taubitz, the reigning world champion and a favorite coming into the race, tapped the wall at the start and made a small mistake late in her run leading to a 12th place finish.
Embyr-Lee Susko scored a top ten in tenth, with teammate Trinity Ellis in 15th as part of a strong showing by the Canadians.
Kaia Hatton made her World Cup debut for Great Britain and finished 23rd.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Hannah Prock | AUT | 9 | 5.087 | 5.070 | 55.742 | 55.906 | 1:51.648 |
| 2 | Merle Fräbel | GER | 15 | 5.043 | 5.030 | 55.874 | 55.804 | 1:51.678 |
| 3 | Dorothea Schwarz | AUT | 5 | 5.091 | 5.069 | 55.786 | 56.071 | 1:51.857 |
| 4 | Anna Berreiter | GER | 13 | 5.137 | 5.070 | 56.130 | 55.816 | 1:51.946 |
| 5 | Lisa Schulte | AUT | 12 | 5.101 | 5.130 | 55.946 | 56.028 | 1:51.974 |
| 6 | Anka Jänicke | GER | 3 | 5.141 | 5.126 | 56.179 | 55.908 | 1:52.087 |
| 7 | Natalie Maag | SUI | 17 | 5.074 | 5.091 | 56.209 | 55.912 | 1:52.121 |
| 8 | Elina Bota | LAT | 4 | 4.990 | 5.002 | 55.861 | 56.300 | 1:52.161 |
| 9 | Kendija Aparjode | LAT | 16 | 5.042 | 5.050 | 56.231 | 55.944 | 1:52.175 |
| 10 | Embyr-Lee Susko | CAN | 2 | 5.115 | 5.111 | 56.228 | 55.998 | 1:52.226 |
| 11 | Alexandra Oberstolz | ITA | 1 | 5.066 | 5.085 | 56.235 | 56.056 | 1:52.291 |
| 12 | Julia Taubitz | GER | 14 | 5.084 | 5.115 | 56.010 | 56.339 | 1:52.349 |
| 13 | Tove Kohala | SWE | 11 | 5.126 | 5.081 | 56.359 | 56.084 | 1:52.443 |
| 14 | Barbara Allmaier | AUT | 10 | 5.180 | 5.161 | 56.965 | 56.057 | 1:53.022 |
| 15 | Trinity Ellis | CAN | 18 | 5.108 | 5.115 | 56.705 | 56.347 | 1:53.052 |
| 16 | Zane Kaluma | LAT | 22 | 5.086 | 5.058 | 56.727 | 56.378 | 1:53.105 |
| 17 | Katharina Kofler | ITA | 21 | 5.178 | 5.153 | 56.733 | 56.385 | 1:53.118 |
| 18 | Olena Smaha | UKR | 7 | 5.074 | 5.053 | 56.668 | 56.522 | 1:53.190 |
| 19 | Caitlin Nash | CAN | 19 | 5.111 | 5.082 | 56.988 | 56.292 | 1:53.280 |
| 20 | Ioana-Corina Buzatoiu | ROU | 8 | 5.067 | 5.062 | 57.011 | 56.941 | 1:53.952 |
| 21 | Yulianna Tunytska | UKR | 6 | 5.030 | 57.030 | |||
| 22 | Klaudia Domaradzka | POL | 23 | 5.096 | 57.099 | |||
| 23 | Kaia Hatton | GBR | 24 | 5.178 | 57.463 | |||
| 24 | Margita Sirsnina | LAT | 20 | 5.142 | 58.213 | |||
| 25 | Emma Seer | EST | 25 | 5.161 | 58.906 |