From Whistler, CAN
(November 7, 2021) – Alexander Schlinter took gold in the 2021/2022 North American Cup season opener in Whistler in a snow-shortened one heat race.
The Austrian, racing in his first North American Cup race, was fourth fastest off the top, but by the second split was the quickest of the race. He held that pace for the remainder of the run to finish .15 ahead of the United States’ Andrew Blaser.
The gold was the Austrian junior’s first.
Blaser edged out Canada’s Evan Neufeldt for silver, while Neufeld took bronze. Blaser’s silver was his first outside of the United States, while Neufeldt’s bronze was his best finish in IBSF competition since 2017 (ICC – Calgary).
Great Britain’s Ben Fulker finished fourth, just ahead of two-time North American Cup champion Ander Mirambell in fifth. Japanese slider Rin Kinoshita finished sixth, a personal best in Whistler.
Stephen Garbett just missed out on a top ten in 13th spot, while American teammates Daniel Barefoot and Hunter Williams finished 17th and 21st respectively.
Outside of Neufedlt’s bronze, Canada struggled on home ice. Ryan Kuehn finished 16th, two spots ahead of Kyle Donsberger in 18th. David Park rounded out the Canadian effort in 25th.
The race was cut to one heat after issues with heavy snow affecting the timing eye.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start | Finish |
| 1 | Alexander Schlinter | AUT | 7 | 4.73 | 53.71 |
| 2 | Andrew Blaser | USA | 12 | 4.77 | 53.86 |
| 3 | Evan Neufeldt | CAN | 28 | 4.76 | 53.95 |
| 4 | Ben Fulker | GBR | 3 | 4.87 | 54.09 |
| 5 | Ander Mirambell | ESP | 8 | 4.98 | 54.21 |
| 6 | Rin Kinoshita | JPN | 14 | 4.70 | 54.23 |
| 7 | Lucas Defayet | FRA | 6 | 4.82 | 54.27 |
| 8 | Brendan Doyle | IRL | 15 | 4.81 | 54.34 |
| 9 | Nicholas Timmings | AUS | 5 | 4.81 | 54.46 |
| 10 | Manuel Schwärzer | ITA | 4 | 4.80 | 54.70 |
| 11 | Rasmus Johansen | DEN | 21 | 4.95 | 54.71 |
| 12 | Nathan Crumpton | ASA | 9 | 4.74 | 54.84 |
| 13 | Stephen Garbett | USA | 11 | 4.93 | 54.89 |
| 14 | Elliot Brown | AUS | 2 | 5.12 | 54.96 |
| 14 | Sebastian Zeleznik | CZE | 1 | 4.87 | 54.96 |
| 16 | Ryan Kuehn | CAN | 22 | 4.82 | 55.17 |
| 17 | Daniel Barefoot | USA | 13 | 4.76 | 55.19 |
| 18 | Kyle Donsberger | CAN | 26 | 4.87 | 55.24 |
| 19 | Akwasi Frimpong | GHA | 16 | 4.93 | 55.33 |
| 20 | Jacob Salisbury | GBR | 27 | 4.77 | 55.45 |
| 21 | Hunter Williams | USA | 23 | 4.99 | 55.54 |
| 22 | Jared Firestone | ISR | 17 | 4.95 | 55.78 |
| 23 | Jeff Bauer | LUX | 19 | 5.03 | 56.30 |
| 24 | Peter Makrides | AUS | 18 | 4.92 | 56.47 |
| 25 | David Park | CAN | 24 | 4.71 | 56.93 |
| 26 | Takanobu Usui | JPN | 20 | 4.90 | 56.94 |
| 27 | Jonathan Yaw | MAS | 25 | 5.05 | 57.07 |
| 28 | Dean Timmings | AUS | 10 | n/a | 1:00.93 |
