From Altenberg, GER
(January 16, 2026) – Jacqueline Pfeifer began the season with a win in Cortina d’Ampezzo, and over the course of the next five races lingered around the podium but couldn’t quite break on to score another medal.
Well she finished the season the way she started, back on top with a gold, this time in Altenberg.
The first heat saw Pfeifer take the lead from World Cup leader Kim Meylemans by just .03 with reigning World Cup champ Kimberley Bos and 2023 world champion Susanne Kreher also within a tenth of a second of the lead. Behind them, the remainder of the field was at least .4 back and otherwise out of contention for the medals.
Kreher kicked off the battle for the podium in the second heat with a huge run. The heat had seen sliders find anywhere from a few tenths to over a second in their second runs to that point, and Kreher followed suit with a downtime that was over a tenth quicker than her first and enough to tie the track record set by Viktoria Hansova in a Europe Cup race at the end of the 2025 calendar year.
Bos took to the ice next. She found .07 off the top compared to her first start, but her second drive just lacked the pace needed to hang with Kreher as she fell .35 back behind the German.
Meylemans just needed to get down cleanly to clinch her first career World Cup title. Her second start was also quicker than her first, and her slide was two hundredths quicker than her first, putting her a hundredth behind Kreher but into second with Pfeifer to go to clinch her World Cup title.
Pfeifer was the last slider off for the second time this season. Per usual, her start trailed nearly everyone, but her slide was as quick as ever. Not only was it the quickest she’d ever been down the track in Altenberg, it was the quickest anyone had as she slid to a track record time of 57.06 to win gold by .33 over Kreher.
It was Pfeifer’s second win on the season and 14th of her career.
Kreher took silver for the fifth time of her career (and fourth time in Altenberg), while Meylemans’ bronze was her sixth medal in seven races.
Bos was fourth, with Hannah Neise fifth and Tabitha Steocker rounding out the top six.
Freya Tarbit and Amelia Coltman were ninth and 12th respectively for Great Britian, while Canada’s Hallie Clarke and Jane Channell were just behind in 13th and 14th.
Kelly Curtis led the way for the United States on a tough morning in Saxony with a 17th place finish. Sara Roderick slid to 19th from 21st in the first heat, in part at the expense of Mystique Ro, who was 20th. Kendall Wesenberg capped off her season with a 23rd place finish.
Kim Meylemans won her first World Cup title, 105 points ahead of Jacqueline Pfefier for Pfeifer’s second silver Crystal Globe. Tabitha Stoecker took third overall, with Anna Fernstädt ahead of Janine Flock in fourth and fifth.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Jacqueline Pfeifer | GER | 10 | 5.64 | 5.62 | 57.36 | 57.06 | 1:54.42 |
| 2 | Susanne Kreher | GER | 1 | 5.62 | 5.52 | 57.43 | 57.32 | 1:54.75 |
| 3 | Kim Meylemans | BEL | 4 | 5.46 | 5.42 | 57.39 | 57.37 | 1:54.76 |
| 4 | Kimberley Bos | NED | 2 | 5.48 | 5.41 | 57.42 | 57.68 | 1:55.10 |
| 5 | Hannah Neise | GER | 9 | 5.74 | 5.71 | 57.82 | 57.53 | 1:55.35 |
| 6 | Tabitha Stoecker | GBR | 6 | 5.41 | 5.52 | 57.77 | 57.66 | 1:55.43 |
| 7 | Anna Fernstädt | CZE | 8 | 5.74 | 5.66 | 57.88 | 57.68 | 1:55.56 |
| 8 | Corinna Leipold | GER | 20 | 5.52 | 5.52 | 58.10 | 57.49 | 1:55.59 |
| 9 | Freya Tarbit | GBR | 7 | 5.61 | 5.53 | 58.01 | 57.67 | 1:55.68 |
| 10 | Dan Zhao | CHN | 13 | 5.55 | 5.52 | 57.97 | 57.85 | 1:55.82 |
| 11 | Nicole Silveira | BRA | 3 | 5.63 | 5.61 | 57.94 | 58.06 | 1:56.00 |
| 12 | Amelia Coltman | GBR | 5 | 5.62 | 5.56 | 58.25 | 57.79 | 1:56.04 |
| 13 | Hallie Clarke | CAN | 18 | 5.60 | 5.61 | 58.47 | 57.64 | 1:56.11 |
| 14 | Jane Channell | CAN | 12 | 5.46 | 5.43 | 58.44 | 57.70 | 1:56.14 |
| 15 | Alessandra Fumagalli | ITA | 16 | 5.52 | 5.56 | 58.36 | 57.99 | 1:56.35 |
| 16 | Yuxi Li | CHN | 19 | 5.48 | 5.49 | 58.49 | 58.09 | 1:56.58 |
| 17 | Kelly Curtis | USA | 15 | 5.55 | 5.54 | 58.70 | 57.89 | 1:56.59 |
| 18 | Julia Erlacher | AUT | 17 | 5.42 | 5.47 | 58.67 | 58.16 | 1:56.83 |
| 19 | Sara Roderick | USA | 25 | 5.47 | 5.48 | 59.36 | 57.95 | 1:57.31 |
| 20 | Mystique Ro | USA | 11 | 5.39 | 5.40 | 58.67 | 58.67 | 1:57.34 |
| 21 | Valentina Margaglio | ITA | 14 | 5.50 | 5.42 | 59.21 | 58.22 | 1:57.43 |
| 22 | Julia Simmchen | SUI | 27 | 5.93 | 5.91 | 59.43 | 58.50 | 1:57.93 |
| 23 | Kendall Wesenberg | USA | 26 | 5.87 | 5.80 | 59.94 | 58.51 | 1:58.45 |
| 24 | Kellie Delka | PUR | 23 | 5.84 | 5.84 | 60.20 | 59.69 | 1:59.89 |
| 25 | Aline Pelckmans | BEL | 24 | 5.99 | 5.92 | 60.53 | 59.61 | 2:00.14 |
| 26 | Sara Schmied | SUI | 21 | 5.53 | 60.74 | |||
| 27 | Shannon Galea | MLT | 22 | 6.06 | 63.92 |