From Winterberg, GER
(January 16, 2026) – Marta Andzane cruised to victory to score her first career IBSF international gold medal.
The Latvian took the lead from the third starting position in the first heat, .26 ahead of Yangqi Zhu, who had gone just before her. By the end of the heat, USA’s Michelle Toukan sat third, .28 back and Yuxin Liang of China .46 back in fourth.
The second heat saw Liang throw down a run .2 quicker than her first to take the lead from neutral athlete Alena Frolova, and then hold that spot as Toukan couldn’t quite keep up with the Chinese slider.
Liang’s teammate Zhu was up next. Like in the first run, Zhu had a heat-quickest start but trouble off of the Curve 0 section of the track set her back almost immediately, with Zhu plummeting out of the top five and toward the back of the top ten with just Andzane still to go.
Like in the first heat, Andzane had a middling start but a better slide than anyone else in the race. Her two runs were the two quickest of the competition as she slid to victory by .61 over Liang, with Toukan another .08 back in third.
Frolova, Austria’s Sarah Baumgartner, and Great Britain’s Ashlyn Bland rounded out the top six.
With one race to go in the 2025/2026 Europe Cup women’s skeleton season, Viktoria Hansova holds a 92 point lead over Yuxin Liang, with Marta Andzane tied with Michelle Toukan for third. Ashlyn Bland and Siji Song round out the top six.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Finish |
| 1 | Marta Andzane | LAT | 3 | 5.49 | 5.49 | 58.02 | 58.13 | 1:56.15 |
| 2 | Yuxin Liang | CHN | 4 | 5.33 | 5.31 | 58.48 | 58.28 | 1:56.76 |
| 3 | Michelle Toukan | USA | 7 | 5.41 | 5.39 | 58.30 | 58.54 | 1:56.84 |
| 4 | Alena Frolova | AIN | 13 | 5.40 | 5.38 | 58.56 | 58.41 | 1:56.97 |
| 5 | Sarah Baumgartner | AUT | 16 | 5.56 | 5.49 | 58.74 | 58.33 | 1:57.07 |
| 6 | Ashlyn Bland | GBR | 10 | 5.33 | 5.39 | 58.50 | 58.73 | 1:57.23 |
| 7 | Viktoria Hansova | GER | 1 | 5.43 | 5.46 | 58.54 | 58.75 | 1:57.29 |
| 8 | Siji Song | CHN | 9 | 5.49 | 5.52 | 58.60 | 58.75 | 1:57.35 |
| 9 | Yangqi Zhu | CHN | 2 | 5.29 | 5.28 | 58.28 | 59.08 | 1:57.36 |
| 10 | Nicole Burger | RSA | 5 | 5.38 | 5.35 | 58.72 | 58.71 | 1:57.43 |
| 11 | Darta Zunte | EST | 8 | 5.42 | 5.43 | 58.76 | 58.70 | 1:57.46 |
| 11 | Marie Angerer | GER | 19 | 5.64 | 5.68 | 58.89 | 58.57 | 1:57.46 |
| 13 | Polina Tiurina | AIN | 21 | 5.48 | 5.51 | 58.89 | 58.68 | 1:57.57 |
| 14 | Darta Neimane | LAT | 15 | 5.30 | 5.30 | 58.83 | 58.89 | 1:57.72 |
| 15 | Nanna Johansen | DEN | 6 | 5.68 | 5.65 | 58.93 | 58.84 | 1:57.77 |
| 16 | Carolin Meier | GER | 20 | 5.66 | 5.64 | 59.27 | 58.60 | 1:57.87 |
| 17 | Sha’londa Terry | USA | 23 | 5.33 | 5.40 | 59.23 | 58.65 | 1:57.88 |
| 18 | Anna Saulite | AUT | 18 | 5.57 | 5.58 | 59.21 | 58.74 | 1:57.95 |
| 19 | Viktoriia Fettel | AIN | 37 | 5.48 | 5.52 | 59.23 | 58.74 | 1:57.97 |
| 20 | Isabella Fassnidge | GBR | 28 | 5.40 | 5.41 | 59.09 | 59.16 | 1:58.25 |
| 21 | Polina Knyazeva | AIN | 30 | 5.46 | 5.49 | 59.63 | 58.89 | 1:58.52 |
| 22 | Charlize Reimann | GER | 14 | 5.78 | 5.81 | 59.43 | 59.39 | 1:58.82 |
| 23 | Laura Legere | LAT | 25 | 5.66 | 5.71 | 59.61 | 59.27 | 1:58.88 |
| 24 | Regan Walker | GBR | 26 | 5.51 | 5.50 | 59.52 | 59.52 | 1:59.04 |
| 25 | Guanshuo Wang | CHN | 17 | 5.34 | 5.41 | 59.44 | 59.90 | 1:59.34 |
| 26 | Carolin Alexa Andrae | SUI | 24 | 5.50 | 59.69 | |||
| 27 | Leah Kidd | GBR | 27 | 5.52 | 59.81 | |||
| 28 | Katharina Eigenmann | LIE | 29 | 5.74 | 59.90 | |||
| 28 | Maria Votz | GER | 35 | 5.73 | 59.90 | |||
| 30 | Angel Osakue | ITA | 22 | 5.57 | 59.93 | |||
| 31 | Sarah Lüscher | SUI | 31 | 6.04 | 60.52 | |||
| 32 | Ana Torres Quevedo | ESP | 12 | 5.91 | 60.56 | |||
| 33 | Kamila Krustina | LAT | 33 | 5.70 | 60.61 | |||
| 34 | Sarah Klose | GER | 38 | 5.75 | 60.63 | |||
| 35 | Eire Rowland-Vvans | IRL | 11 | 5.58 | 60.71 | |||
| 36 | Mariia Ivchuk | UKR | 34 | 5.77 | 61.48 | |||
| 37 | Mira Österlund | SWE | 32 | 6.09 | 61.70 | |||
| 38 | Yevheniia Kovalchuk | UKR | 36 | 6.05 | 61.88 |