From Winterberg, GER
(January 2, 2022) – The weather again was tricky in Winterberg, but it was no match for Julia Taubitz, who threw down two strong runs to win gold in Germany.
Taubitz entered the second heat in fourth place, behind Natalie Geisenberger, Elina Vitola, and Ekaterina Katnikova after deteriorating ice conditions left many of the late starters with slower ice to work with.
On the second run Taubitz seemed to have the answer for the tricky ice conditions, as she set the second quickest downtime of the race to move into the lead. Neither Vitola or Katnikova finished anywhere near Taubitz, which left just Geisenberger to try to take the win.
Geisenberger’s second run was just as clean as her first, and a half second quicker than her first, but Taubitz’s second run was was over three tenths quicker than Geisenberger, plenty enough for gold.
Geisenberger finished second, while Austria’s Madeleine Egle jumped up from 17th in the first heat to finish in third.
The win for Taubitz was her fourth on the season. She has finished either first or second in every race on the 2021/2022 calendar except for one (Sochi race 1).
Like Egle, Anna Berreiter struggled on slower ice conditions in the first heat but had a quick run in the second heat to move up from 14th to fourth. The United States’ Summer Britcher jumped up from ninth to fifth, while Hannah Prock finished a season-best sixth.
Brittney Arndt finished the race in 12th place after tricky ice conditions likely slowed her down a touch. Ashley Farquharson moved up from 18th to finish in 16th, tied with Italy’s Verena Hofer. Emily Sweeney had what appeared to be a top-15 run going on her run, but crashed late in her run and received a DNF.
Canada qualified two sleds for the women’s luge race. Trinity Ellis led the way in 15th, while Makena Hodgson finished 23rd
With a handful of races to go in the 2021/2022 season, Taubitz is the overall point leader, 102 points ahead of Egle. Anna Berreiter sits third, with Natalie Geisenberger in fourth.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Julia Taubitz | GER | 24 | 5.127 | 5.084 | 57.109 | 56.148 | 1:53.257 |
| 2 | Natalie Geisenberger | GER | 23 | 5.085 | 5.055 | 56.936 | 56.472 | 1:53.408 |
| 3 | Madeleine Egle | AUT | 28 | 5.094 | 5.048 | 57.318 | 56.105 | 1:53.423 |
| 4 | Anna Berreiter | GER | 27 | 5.085 | 5.017 | 57.245 | 56.197 | 1:53.442 |
| 5 | Summer Britcher | USA | 22 | 5.121 | 5.094 | 57.173 | 56.501 | 1:53.674 |
| 6 | Hannah Prock | AUT | 18 | 5.207 | 5.274 | 57.130 | 56.564 | 1:53.694 |
| 7 | Eliza Tiruma | LAT | 26 | 5.161 | 5.087 | 57.449 | 56.247 | 1:53.696 |
| 8 | Elina Vitola | LAT | 7 | 5.074 | 5.091 | 56.939 | 56.788 | 1:53.727 |
| 9 | Viktoriia Demchenko | RUS | 16 | 5.075 | 5.074 | 57.190 | 56.640 | 1:53.830 |
| 10 | Nina Zöggeler | ITA | 14 | 5.144 | 5.158 | 57.063 | 56.850 | 1:53.913 |
| 11 | Ekaterina Katnikova | RUS | 21 | 5.118 | 5.125 | 56.967 | 56.961 | 1:53.928 |
| 12 | Brittney Arndt | USA | 13 | 5.178 | 5.177 | 57.130 | 56.807 | 1:53.937 |
| 13 | Sigita Berzina | LAT | 8 | 5.025 | 5.063 | 57.053 | 56.890 | 1:53.943 |
| 14 | Natalie Maag | SUI | 5 | 5.182 | 5.154 | 57.277 | 56.689 | 1:53.966 |
| 15 | Trinity Ellis | CAN | 10 | 5.176 | 5.196 | 57.175 | 56.858 | 1:54.033 |
| 16 | Ashley Farquharson | USA | 15 | 5.213 | 5.181 | 57.334 | 56.746 | 1:54.080 |
| 16 | Verena Hofer | ITA | 11 | 5.146 | 5.074 | 57.360 | 56.720 | 1:54.080 |
| 18 | Lisa Schulte | AUT | 19 | 5.244 | 5.147 | 57.532 | 56.667 | 1:54.199 |
| 19 | Andrea Vötter | ITA | 25 | 5.132 | 5.041 | 57.638 | 56.662 | 1:54.300 |
| 20 | Olena Smaha | UKR | 4 | 5.169 | 5.195 | 57.335 | 57.052 | 1:54.387 |
| 21 | Raluca Stramaturaru | ROU | 9 | 5.170 | 5.193 | 57.364 | 57.036 | 1:54.400 |
| 22 | Olena Stetskiv | UKR | 3 | 5.105 | 5.131 | 57.255 | 57.155 | 1:54.410 |
| 23 | Makena Hodgson | CAN | 1 | 5.173 | 5.195 | 57.356 | 57.189 | 1:54.545 |
| 24 | Katarina Simonakova | SVK | 2 | 5.249 | 5.209 | 57.724 | 57.447 | 1:55.171 |
| 25 | Selina Egle | AUT | 6 | 5.194 | 5.230 | 61.188 | 56.905 | 1:58.093 |
| DNF | Dajana Eitberger | GER | 17 | 5.137 | 5.131 | 57.186 | DNF | |
| DNF | Emily Sweeney | USA | 20 | 5.091 | 5.051 | 57.231 | DNF | |
| DNF | Diana Loginova | RUS | 12 | 5.129 | DNF |
