From Altenberg, GER
Feb. 5, 2021 – During an interview for Sliding on Ice over the summer, Kaillie Humphries listed Altenberg as one of her favorite tracks. She’d won World Cup races there and was fresh off a World Championship victory on the German track. So when the 2021 World Championships were moved form Lake Placid to Altenberg due to the COVID pandemic, Humphries was relatively okay with it.
Now, two heats into the 2021 World Championships she’s showing why, once again leading in Altenberg.
Humphries started her World Championships with a .13 lead over Germany’s Laura Nolte. On the second run, Kim Kalicki was one of the only pilots to faster in her second heat to jump up to the lead with just the American to go. Humphries once again set the quick time of the heat, giving herself a .34 second advantage going into the second day of sliding.
Kalicki, who has missed only one podium in her World Cup career, will go into the second day of sliding in second, .09 ahead of Nolte in third.
Elana Meyers Taylor will enter the third heat in fourth place for the United States. While she has .4 to make up, there’s still a real possibility for her to make up that ground and slide into the medals.
World Cup champion Kati Beierl finished the first day of sliding in fifth place, moving up from sixth in the first heat with a strong second run.
Romania’s Andreea Grecu was the big mover of the second heat, jumping up from 12th in the first heat to sixth. Her second run was the third fastest of the second heat.
in her first World Championships as a pilot, Cynthia Appiah led the way for Canada in tenth place after two runs. Alysia Rissling will go into the third heat just outside of the top ten in 11th. Christine de Bruin struggled to find any of the speed she’s had over the last few seasons. Her second run was the better of the two, but she will enter the second day of competition looking to move up from 17th.
Great Britain’s Mica McNeill struggled to find the form she had in the 2020 World Championships. Her first run put her in 18th, and while her second run was .24 faster than her first, she finished the second heat still in 18th.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Humphries / Jones | USA | 14 | 5.71 | 5.68 | 56.40 | 56.54 | 1:52.94 |
| 2 | Kalicki / Strack | GER | 5 | 5.67 | 5.69 | 56.69 | 56.59 | 1:53.28 |
| 3 | Nolte / Levi | GER | 8 | 5.55 | 5.56 | 56.53 | 56.84 | 1:53.37 |
| 4 | Meyers Taylor / Hoffman | USA | 12 | 5.60 | 5.59 | 56.78 | 56.99 | 1:53.77 |
| 5 | Beierl / Onasanya | AUT | 4 | 5.68 | 5.69 | 56.94 | 57.03 | 1:53.97 |
| 6 | Grecu / Wick | ROU | 7 | 5.76 | 5.76 | 57.17 | 56.83 | 1:54.00 |
| 7 | Jamanka / Mark | GER | 6 | 5.72 | 5.76 | 56.88 | 57.13 | 1:54.01 |
| 8 | Schneider / Fiebig | GER | 15 | 5.61 | 5.63 | 57.08 | 56.95 | 1:54.03 |
| 9 | Fontanive / Pasternack | SUI | 10 | 5.74 | 5.78 | 57.05 | 57.02 | 1:54.07 |
| 10 | Appiah / Voss | CAN | 2 | 5.68 | 5.75 | 57.09 | 57.05 | 1:54.14 |
| 11 | Rissling / Richardson Wilson | CAN | 3 | 5.74 | 5.74 | 57.12 | 57.23 | 1:54.35 |
| 12 | Boch / Senechal | FRA | 13 | 5.87 | 5.88 | 57.38 | 57.11 | 1:54.49 |
| 13 | Makarova / Tarasova | BFR | 20 | 5.80 | 5.80 | 57.39 | 57.17 | 1:54.56 |
| 14 | Hasler / Strebel | SUI | 9 | 5.78 | 5.81 | 57.49 | 57.08 | 1:54.57 |
| 15 | Vannieuwenhuyse / Aerts | BEL | 16 | 5.90 | 5.90 | 57.36 | 57.21 | 1:54.57 |
| 16 | Sergeeva / Belomestnykh | BFR | 18 | 5.72 | 5.73 | 57.12 | 57.53 | 1:54.65 |
| 17 | de Bruin / Villani | CAN | 17 | 5.73 | 5.77 | 57.50 | 57.24 | 1:54.74 |
| 18 | McNeill / Douglas | GBR | 11 | 5.90 | 5.89 | 57.68 | 57.44 | 1:55.12 |
| 19 | Chernykh / Mamedova | BFR | 1 | 5.83 | 5.87 | 57.73 | 57.85 | 1:55.58 |
| 20 | Smolarek / Slupecka | POL | 19 | 6.21 | 6.22 | 58.41 | 58.81 | 1:57.22 |
