From Lillehammer, NOR
(November 12, 2021) – Chinese slider Yuxi Li won the opening race of the 2021/2022 IBSF European Cup women’s skeleton season, cruising to victory by over a second.
Li, who had previously won a silver in Lake Placid North American Cup action, finished her first heat .16 ahead of the United States’ Mystique Ro and .27 ahead of Great Britain’s Amelia Kellyman. On the second run both Kellyman and Ro had trouble, with Kellyman making mistakes down the lower part of the 1994 Olympic track to finish eighth, while Ro crashed in the bottom portion of the track and ended with a DNF.
Kellyman and Ro’s issues were enough to leave the door wide open for Li, who finished 1.2 seconds ahead of second place Sarah Wimmer of Germany. Li’s teammate, Yanqi Zhu, finished just .o6 behind Wimmer in third.
Austria’s Annia Unterscheider finished in fourth for her best ever European Cup finish, while Germany’s Hannah Staub and rookie Selina Frohberger rounded out the top six.
Despite her issues in the second run, Amelia Kellyman was the top finishing slider for Great Britain in eighth, one spot ahead of teammate Freya Tarbit in ninth.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Finish |
| 1 | Yuxi Li | CHN | 2 | 5.13 | 5.13 | 53.62 | 53.83 | 1:47.45 |
| 2 | Sarah Wimmer | GER | 6 | 5.25 | 5.27 | 54.23 | 54.42 | 1:48.65 |
| 3 | Yangqi Zhu | CHN | 11 | 5.13 | 5.17 | 54.45 | 54.26 | 1:48.71 |
| 4 | Annia Unterscheider | AUT | 7 | 5.44 | 5.46 | 54.41 | 54.58 | 1:48.99 |
| 5 | Hanna Staub | GER | 4 | 5.48 | 5.52 | 54.63 | 54.76 | 1:49.39 |
| 6 | Selina Frohberger | GER | 12 | 5.44 | 5.46 | 54.73 | 54.67 | 1:49.40 |
| 7 | Julia Simmchen | GER | 9 | 5.55 | 5.52 | 54.61 | 54.83 | 1:49.44 |
| 8 | Amelia Kellyman | GBR | 14 | 5.07 | 5.15 | 53.89 | 55.64 | 1:49.53 |
| 9 | Freya Tarbit | GBR | 13 | 5.05 | 5.14 | 54.70 | 55.08 | 1:49.78 |
| 10 | Anna Saulite | AUT | 15 | 5.54 | 5.40 | 55.08 | 54.85 | 1:49.93 |
| 11 | Aline Pelckmans | BEL | 3 | 5.38 | 5.45 | 55.48 | 55.19 | 1:50.67 |
| 12 | Filippa Nordgren | SWE | 1 | 5.45 | 5.46 | 55.66 | 55.61 | 1:51.27 |
| 13 | Paulina Ewald Grondal | SWE | 10 | 5.75 | 5.76 | 55.52 | 55.89 | 1:51.41 |
| 14 | Katharina Eigenmann | LIE | 5 | 5.57 | 5.56 | 56.01 | 55.65 | 1:51.66 |
| 15 | Ana Torres Quevedo | ESP | 16 | 6.03 | 5.99 | 59.76 | 58.81 | 1:58.57 |
| DNF | Mysqtique Ro | USA | 8 | 5.04 | 5.03 | 53.78 | DNF |
