From Lake Placid, USA
(December 16, 2022) – Tina Hermann won her first World Cup gold medal of the 2022/2023 season, beating out teammate Susanne Kreher for top honors.
Hermann edged out Kreher by .03 in the first heat, Australia’s Jackie Narracott, Netherlands’s Kimberley Bos, and teammate Hannah Neise all within .2 of the lead going into the second heat.
In the second heat it was USA’s Kelly Curtis putting down a big second run to move into the lead. From there, slider after slider was unable to unseat Curtis until finally Kreher edged out Curtis by .02 to move into the leader’s box with only Tina Hermann to go.
Hermann’s second run was just as good as the first, and .28 quicker than Kreher’s second run. It ended up being the fastest of the heat, good enough for a combined .31 second victory.
Despite the heavy snow all race, Hermann was very happy with the track.
“The track was okay, there was no snow in the track. Most of it is covered,” she added, “so it didn’t make much of a difference.”
Kreher’s silver medal was a career-first for the young German. Curtis took bronze.
“It’s super fun to be here…it’s my first ever World Cup in Lake Placid,” Curtis said. “I just wanted to be in the mix, and having a medal is just a cherry on top. I wanted to clean up some things from my first run, I focused on cleaning up some corners and things fell where they did!”
Olympic silver medalist Jackie Narracott finished fourth, just ahead of Olympic bronze medalist and teammate Kimberley Bos of the Netherlands.
Germany’s Hannah Neise finished sixth.
USA’s Kendall Wesenberg finished a season-best seventh, one spot ahead of Canada’s Mimi Rahneva eighth. Jane Channell rounded out the Canadian effort in 13th.
Great Britain’s Brogan Crowley finished ninth, whille teammate Laura Deas finished 11th.
Hermann’s win solidified her lead going into the holiday break. After three races, she holds a 34 point lead over teammate Hannah Neise. Mimi Rahneva is third, with Susanne Kreher, Kimbreley Bos and Kelly Curtis rounding out the top six.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Tina Hermann | GER | 7 | 5.43 | 5.46 | 55.47 | 55.59 | 1:51.06 |
| 2 | Susanne Kreher | GER | 11 | 5.28 | 5.28 | 55.50 | 55.87 | 1:51.37 |
| 3 | Kelly Curtis | USA | 5 | 5.33 | 5.33 | 55.79 | 55.60 | 1:51.39 |
| 4 | Jaclyn Narracott | AUS | 16 | 5.43 | 5.46 | 55.62 | 55.81 | 1:51.43 |
| 5 | Kimberley Bos | NED | 13 | 5.29 | 5.31 | 55.64 | 55.85 | 1:51.49 |
| 6 | Hannah Neise | GER | 4 | 5.53 | 5.53 | 55.65 | 55.88 | 1:51.53 |
| 7 | Kendall Wesenberg | USA | 15 | 5.51 | 5.53 | 55.70 | 55.91 | 1:51.61 |
| 8 | Mirela Rahneva | CAN | 9 | 5.28 | 5.29 | 55.79 | 55.90 | 1:51.69 |
| 9 | Brogan Crowley | GBR | 10 | 5.22 | 5.40 | 56.03 | 56.04 | 1:52.07 |
| 10 | Anna Fernstädt | CZE | 8 | 5.53 | 5.50 | 55.70 | 56.41 | 1:52.11 |
| 11 | Laura Deas | GBR | 12 | 5.29 | 5.27 | 55.99 | 56.13 | 1:52.12 |
| 12 | Nicole Silveira | BRA | 14 | 5.38 | 5.45 | 56.24 | 55.94 | 1:52.18 |
| 13 | Jane Channell | CAN | 1 | 5.15 | 5.20 | 55.90 | 56.72 | 1:52.62 |
| 14 | Kellie Delka | PUR | 2 | 5.50 | 5.55 | 56.42 | 56.47 | 1:52.89 |
| 15 | Agathe Bessard | FRA | 19 | 5.52 | 5.51 | 56.74 | 56.42 | 1:53.16 |
| 16 | Dan Zhao | CHN | 3 | 5.31 | 5.36 | 56.56 | 56.72 | 1:53.28 |
| 17 | Yuxi Li | CHN | 20 | 5.47 | 5.55 | 56.66 | 57.15 | 1:53.81 |
| 18 | Hallie Clarke | USA | 6 | 5.55 | 5.27 | 57.29 | 56.56 | 1:53.85 |
| 19 | Jaclyn LaBerge | CAN | 18 | 5.63 | 5.68 | 57.49 | 57.46 | 1:54.95 |
| 20 | Julia Erlacher | AUT | 17 | 5.28 | 5.30 | 58.39 | 59.84 | 1:58.23 |
