Pietschmann Edges Bräutigam For Altenberg Gold

From Altenberg, GER

(December 17, 2022) – Antonia Pietschmann needed help from teammate Melina Fischer, but with that help won gold in Altenberg.

Pietschmann trailed Fischer by just .051 going into the second heat, with their German teammate Alina Bräutigam sitting in third. On the second run it was Bräutigam who set the quick time of the heat to put pressure on the two women ahead of her. Pietschmann was next, and while she couldn’t match Bräutigam’s second run pace she did have enough in the bank to hold onto the lead.

That left Fischer, who set the quick start of the race and early on looked to have the event wrapped up. Tragedy struck mid-run though as Fischer crashed, and while the German was able to right her sled and finish her run, she fell to tenth, giving Pietschmann the victory.

Bräutigam finished second, while Austria’s Dorothea Schwarz moved up from eighth in the first heat to win bronze.

Canada’s Midori Holland finished fourth, ahead of Barbara Allmaier in fifth, while Latvia’s Franceska Bona finished in sixth.

Canada had a strong showing in Altenberg. While Embyr Susko finished 19th, she overcame a crash in the first heat to put down the second quickest run of the second heat to move up to 19th.

The United States’ Emma Erickson finished 24th after also having trouble in her first heat. Her second run was the 11th quickest. Sophia Gordon crashed on her second run and did not finish, while Delaney Duncan did not start.

With only two races left in the Junior World Cup season, Antonia Pietschmann has a 11 point lead over teammate Anka Jänicke after Jänicke struggled in Altenberg. Alina Bräutigam is third, ten points behind Jänicke.

Results: