From Winterberg, GER
(December 10, 2021) – The track in Winterberg on Friday had never been faster. Mere hours after the men’s race saw the track record fall, the women destroyed the old track record in an entertaining race.
The ice showed how quick it was in the first heat, with a group of women all breaking the old track record of 57.26 (set by Sarah Wimmer in November of 2020). Jane Channell was the first woman into record territory with a 57.17. From there Katie Uhlaender lowered the time to 57.10, which was then tied by Janine Flock one run later. About two minutes after that the track record was once again lowered, this time by World Cup point leader Kimberley Bos, who became the first woman to ever slide Winterberg in under 57 seconds with a 56.98 downtime.
In that first heat Tina Hermann, Mimi Rahneva, Jacqueline Lölling, and Hannah Neise all slid below the old track record, as well.
On the second run Elena Nikitina broke her own start record at the top, and crushed Bos’s time with a 56.74 downtime. That tie stood as the rest of the field took their best shot at it. It wasn’t until Bos came down on her final run was the time lowered again, this time to a 56.70 as Bos slid into the record books as a track record holder in Winterberg and a World Cup gold medalist with her first World Cup victory.
In total everyone in the top 14 had at least one run below the old track record.
Behind Bos the racing was tight, with Hermann edging Rahneva for silver, with Rahneva taking bronze by just .03 over Lölling. The bronze for Rahneva was her first medal since the 2019/2020 season (Winterberg).
Lölling finished fourth, up from a tie for seventh, while Uhlaender scored her second top finish since returning to World Cup action in the 2020/2021 season.
The North American women were strong on ice in Winterberg. Behind Rahneva and Uhlaender’s efforts, Kelly Curtis helped place two American sleds in the top ten with her tenth place finish, one spot ahead of teammate Megan Henry in 11th. Canada’s Jane Channell finished only .02 behind Henry in 12th.
For the second time in as many races Great Britain failed to crack the top twenty. Laurea Deas finished .05 out of 20th in 21st, while teammate Brogan Crowley finished .15 back in 23rd.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Kimberley Bos | NED | 11 | 5.30 | 5.29 | 56.98 | 56.70 | 1:53.68 |
| 2 | Tina Hermann | GER | 13 | 5.49 | 5.53 | 57.02 | 56.91 | 1:53.93 |
| 3 | Mirela Rahneva | CAN | 20 | 5.30 | 5.29 | 57.08 | 56.89 | 1:53.97 |
| 4 | Jacqueline Lölling | GER | 17 | 5.61 | 5.56 | 57.25 | 56.75 | 1:54.00 |
| 5 | Katie Uhlaender | USA | 9 | 5.34 | 5.37 | 57.10 | 56.97 | 1:54.07 |
| 6 | Elena Nikitina | RUS | 4 | 5.20 | 5.07 | 57.43 | 56.74 | 1:54.17 |
| 7 | Janine Flock | AUT | 10 | 5.48 | 5.51 | 57.10 | 57.12 | 1:54.22 |
| 8 | Valentina Margaglio | ITA | 14 | 5.15 | 5.14 | 57.26 | 57.02 | 1:54.28 |
| 9 | Hannah Neise | GER | 12 | 5.53 | 5.48 | 57.25 | 57.07 | 1:54.32 |
| 10 | Kelly Curtis | USA | 15 | 5.37 | 5.38 | 57.32 | 57.08 | 1:54.40 |
| 11 | Megan Henry | USA | 16 | 5.32 | 5.34 | 57.41 | 57.05 | 1:54.46 |
| 12 | Jane Channell | CAN | 5 | 5.24 | 5.24 | 57.17 | 57.31 | 1:54.48 |
| 13 | Kim Meylemans | BEL | 7 | 5.32 | 5.30 | 57.33 | 57.22 | 1:54.55 |
| 14 | Yulia Kanakina | RUS | 8 | 5.24 | 5.20 | 57.53 | 57.08 | 1:54.61 |
| 15 | Huiyang Lin | CHN | 26 | 5.45 | 5.39 | 57.44 | 57.36 | 1:54.80 |
| 16 | Nicole Silveira | BRA | 19 | 5.40 | 5.46 | 57.50 | 57.41 | 1:54.91 |
| 17 | Jaclyn Narracott | AUS | 3 | 5.40 | 5.45 | 57.42 | 57.51 | 1:54.93 |
| 18 | Alina Tararychenkova | RUS | 6 | 5.21 | 5.22 | 57.51 | 57.50 | 1:55.01 |
| 19 | Alessia Crippa | ITA | 2 | 5.33 | 5.34 | 57.53 | 57.73 | 1:55.26 |
| 20 | Anna Fernstädt | CZE | 18 | 5.54 | 5.59 | 57.63 | 57.65 | 1:55.28 |
| 21 | Laura Deas | GBR | 22 | 5.30 | 57.68 | |||
| 22 | Endija Terauda | LAT | 23 | 5.54 | 57.74 | |||
| 23 | Brogan Crowley | GBR | 21 | 5.26 | 57.83 | |||
| 24 | Yangqi Zhu | CHN | 24 | 5.36 | 58.09 | |||
| 25 | Agathe Bessard | FRA | 25 | 5.58 | 58.10 | |||
| 26 | Kellie Delka | PUR | 1 | 5.59 | 58.93 | |||
| 27 | Carolin Andrae | SUI | 27 | 5.56 | 59.19 |
