From Jaufental, ITA
(February 21, 2026) – In a very snowy race, newly crowned European Champion Nina Castiglioni beat out her older sister for her first World Cup victory.
Jenny Castiglioni put down the quick run of the first heat as she opened up a .36 second lead over teammate Nadine Staffler, with sister Nina well back in third, .74 off the pace.
But with the snow falling and the track wildly unpredictable, Nina had a great second run that was nearly a full second quicker than her first to put pressure on the women ahead of her.
Staffler was next, and was unable to match the pace of Nina Castiglioni, and while she made up ground late in her run she ran out of track and fell behind the younger Castiglioni with the elder sister still to go.
Jenny Castiglioni was looking for her first win of her career, and pulled off the top just .09 off of her sister’s pace. But the speed was just not in the track for her. The final run of the season for the women was a full second off of Nina Castiglioni’s pace as big sister Jenny slid to second, still a season best.
“I have no words. The second run was extremely good. To finish the season with my first World Cup win is simply wonderful,” said a teary Nina Castiglioni after the race.
While she was disappointed about missing out on her own win, Jenny was happy to see her sister win.
“Of course I would have liked to win,” she said. “but my second run wasn’t quite as good. However, I’m absolutely delighted for my sister.”
Staffler slid to third, with Daniela Mittermair completing an Italian sweep of the top four spots.
Rounding out the top five was Austria’s Riccarda Ruetz, who had all but clinched the title coming into the race. Despite only needing a clean pair of runs to take the title, Ruetz didn’t let up in her final two runs of the season.
“There was no easing off,” Ruetz told the media after the race. “I race to win every event. But today we probably made the wrong setup choice in the first run. It’s a shame the season is already over. Winning the overall World Cup means a lot to me. It has been my best season so far.”
With her win, Nina Castiglioni finished the season second, with Lisa Walch third. The results were career bests for all three women.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Nina Castiglioni | ITA | 12 | 9.73 | 9.70 | 53.64 | 52.69 | 1:46.33 |
| 2 | Jenny Castiglioni | ITA | 10 | 9.76 | 9.79 | 52.90 | 53.73 | 1:46.63 |
| 3 | Nadine Staffler | ITA | 11 | 9.87 | 9.83 | 53.26 | 53.60 | 1:46.86 |
| 4 | Daniela Mittermair | ITA | 9 | 9.82 | 9.77 | 53.65 | 53.58 | 1:47.23 |
| 5 | Riccarda Ruetz | AUT | 14 | 9.81 | 9.79 | 54.00 | 53.57 | 1:47.57 |
| 6 | Lisa Walch | GER | 13 | 9.81 | 9.82 | 54.33 | 54.20 | 1:48.53 |
| 7 | Naomi Thöni | AUT | 8 | 9.99 | 9.91 | 54.52 | 54.84 | 1:49.36 |
| 8 | Hannah Nagele | AUT | 6 | 10.93 | 10.04 | 54.85 | 55.47 | 1:50.32 |
| 9 | Carina Miller | AUT | 2 | 10.12 | 9.94 | 55.62 | 55.16 | 1:50.78 |
| 10 | Patricija Urbanc | CRO | 5 | 10.45 | 10.55 | 57.17 | 58.35 | 1:55.52 |
| 11 | Tina Stuffer | ITA | 4 | 9.54 | 54.05 | |||
| 12 | Lotte Mulser | ITA | 3 | 9.90 | 54.13 | |||
| 13 | Alina Schaffenrath | AUT | 7 | 10.37 | 56.13 | |||
| 14 | Emma Ruetz | AUT | 1 | 10.04 | 56.15 |