From Igls, AUT
(January 9, 2026) – Valentina Margaglio had to come from behind to do it, but she took her first gold of the 2025/2026 sliding season with a victory in Europe Cup action from Igls.
The Italian had the quick start and a good slide in the first heat, but trailed Latvia’s Marta Andzane by .11, with Great Britain’s Ashlyn Bland and China’s Yuxin Liang both in the hunt for medals behind them.
In the second heat, Liang leapfrogged Bland, but was picked off by a hard-charging Margaglio, who took the lead by .55 with just Andzane still to go.
The young Latvian stood atop the start block as the last slider off for the first time in her career. Her start was consistent with her first, and her slide was good, but couldn’t match the great second effort by the Italian. Andzane took second behind Margaglio, with Liang third.
Bland took fourth, USA’s Michelle Toukan another top five in fifth, with Estonia’s Darta Zunte sixth.
Great Britain’s Isabella Fassnidge was ninth, up from 12th in the first heat, while USA’s Sha’Londa Terry was 18th.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Finish |
| 1 | Valentina Margaglio | ITA | 5 | 5.23 | 5.24 | 54.74 | 54.63 | 1:49.37 |
| 2 | Marta Andzane | LAT | 6 | 5.49 | 5.51 | 54.63 | 54.90 | 1:49.53 |
| 3 | Yuxin Liang | CHN | 10 | 5.35 | 5.30 | 54.98 | 54.94 | 1:49.92 |
| 4 | Ashlyn Bland | GBR | 8 | 5.36 | 5.36 | 54.94 | 55.14 | 1:50.08 |
| 5 | Michelle Toukan | USA | 11 | 5.41 | 5.39 | 55.01 | 55.12 | 1:50.13 |
| 5 | Darta Zunte | EST | 1 | 5.41 | 5.39 | 55.12 | 55.01 | 1:50.13 |
| 7 | Siji Song | CHN | 7 | 5.51 | 5.51 | 55.16 | 55.06 | 1:50.22 |
| 8 | Alena Frolova | AIN | 31 | 5.43 | 5.43 | 55.06 | 55.19 | 1:50.25 |
| 9 | Isabella Fassnidge | GBR | 27 | 5.47 | 5.45 | 55.35 | 54.97 | 1:50.32 |
| 10 | Viktoria Hansova | GER | 4 | 5.47 | 5.43 | 55.27 | 55.16 | 1:50.43 |
| 11 | Polina Tiurina | AIN | 33 | 5.50 | 5.49 | 55.33 | 55.38 | 1:50.71 |
| 12 | Yangqi Zhu | CHN | 2 | 5.36 | 5.33 | 55.59 | 55.15 | 1:50.74 |
| 13 | Anna Saulite | AUT | 3 | 5.56 | 5.57 | 55.52 | 55.25 | 1:50.77 |
| 14 | Polina Knyazeva | AIN | 29 | 5.44 | 5.43 | 55.34 | 55.75 | 1:51.09 |
| 15 | Marie Angerer | GER | 16 | 5.69 | 5.73 | 55.62 | 55.50 | 1:51.12 |
| 16 | Guanshuo Wang | CHN | 18 | 5.33 | 5.38 | 55.55 | 55.72 | 1:51.27 |
| 17 | Sarah Baumgartner | AUT | 19 | 5.54 | 5.58 | 55.76 | 55.58 | 1:51.34 |
| 18 | Sha’Londa Terry | USA | 22 | 5.41 | 5.48 | 55.79 | 55.72 | 1:51.51 |
| 19 | Carolin Meier | GER | 17 | 5.61 | 5.66 | 55.90 | 55.92 | 1:51.82 |
| 20 | Darta Neimane | LAT | 9 | 5.25 | 5.29 | 55.82 | 56.12 | 1:51.94 |
| 21 | Leah Kidd | GBR | 15 | 5.58 | 5.64 | 55.88 | 56.13 | 1:52.01 |
| 22 | Regan Walker | GBR | 25 | 5.55 | 5.59 | 55.90 | 56.17 | 1:52.07 |
| 23 | Maria Votz | GER | 30 | 5.68 | 5.76 | 56.32 | 55.84 | 1:52.16 |
| 24 | Charlize Reimann | GER | 14 | 5.85 | 5.79 | 56.32 | 55.95 | 1:52.27 |
| 25 | Katharina Eigenmann | LIE | 13 | 5.80 | 5.78 | 56.19 | 56.10 | 1:52.29 |
| 26 | Angel Osakue | ITA | 24 | 5.56 | 56.35 | |||
| 27 | Carolin Andrä | SUI | 12 | 5.50 | 56.60 | |||
| 28 | Nina Lerch | AUT | 32 | 5.64 | 56.77 | |||
| 29 | Sarah Lüscher | SUI | 21 | 5.96 | 56.87 | |||
| 30 | Ana Torres Quevedo | ESP | 20 | 5.96 | 57.32 | |||
| 31 | Viktoriia Fettel | AIN | 26 | 5.51 | 57.56 | |||
| 32 | Rebecca Seiwald | AUT | 34 | 6.09 | 57.64 | |||
| 33 | Sophie Gaulin | AUT | 28 | 5.80 | 57.97 | |||
| 34 | Mira Österlund | SWE | 23 | 6.10 | 58.97 |