From Altenberg, GER
(January 13, 2023) – Tina Hermann solidified her position as the queen of Altenberg in skeleton with a dominating performance on German soil. Hermann grabbed a .62 second advantage over the field in the first heat, and on the second heat she pulled away even further with an eventual margin of victory of 1.04 seconds. Her runs of 58.05 and 58.18 were the two quickest of the competition by a sizeable margin.
The win for Hermann was her third straight in World Cup competition. Since January of 2020, Hermann is undefeated in skeleton singles competition in both World Cup and World Championships, with the only blemish on her record a fifth place finish in the mixed team competition. She’s never finished outside of the top four in a World Cup race there.
Behind Hermann, the racing was close throughout the field. Germany’s Susanne Kreher won silver in her first World Cup start in Altenberg. Kreher’s second run time was only fourth quickest, but a strong first run that was completely overshadowed by Hermann’s effort was enough to put her on the podium.
One of the big movers of the second heat was Olympic bronze medalist Kimberley Bos, who moved up from sixth in the first heat to finish with a bronze medal. Bos’s second run was second quickest and a tenth faster than anyone else other than Hermann. Her bronze was a career best in Altenberg.
Also with a career-best in Altenberg was Mimi Rahneva. The Canadian slider hadn’t ever scored a World Cup top ten in Altenberg during her illustrious career leading into the competition. She found herself in third place after one run, and while her second run was solid, she was picked off by Bos for the final podium spot. Still, the fourth was her third top four of the season.
Great Britain’s Laura Deas finished fifth, up from ninth in the first heat with a second run downtime only beaten by Hermann and Bos, while Jacqueline Lölling finished sixth in her first World Cup start of the season.
Altenberg was not kind to the United States’ women on Friday. Kelly Curtis did score a career-best Altenberg World Cup finish with a ninth place effort, but fell from eighth in the first heat. Kendall Wesenberg was 12th coming into the second heat but a bumpy second run dropped her to 17th in the final standings. Mystique Ro, making her first ever World Cup start, had a solid 11th place run after the first heat but fell to 19th on her second run.
Canada’s Jane Channell had a skiddy first run that left her 14th after one heat. However her second run down was sixth quickest and enough to move her into 11th, edged by Brazil’s Nicole Silveira by .01 for a top ten.
With three races remaining in the World Cup season, Tina Hermann has begun to take control of the overall points. She’s 67 points ahead of Kimberley Bos, with Mimi Rahneva only 6 points back behind Bos. Susanne Kreher and Kelly Curtis area fourth and fifth.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Tina Hermann | GER | 5 | 5.76 | 5.76 | 58.05 | 58.18 | 1:56.23 |
| 2 | Susanne Kreher | GER | 13 | 5.54 | 5.50 | 58.67 | 58.60 | 1:57.27 |
| 3 | Kimberley Bos | NED | 12 | 5.49 | 5.48 | 59.08 | 58.37 | 1:57.45 |
| 4 | Mirela Rahneva | CAN | 6 | 5.59 | 5.50 | 58.77 | 58.84 | 1:57.61 |
| 5 | Laura Deas | GBR | 2 | 5.55 | 5.51 | 59.16 | 58.49 | 1:57.65 |
| 6 | Jacqueline Lölling | GER | 14 | 5.90 | 5.88 | 58.91 | 58.81 | 1:57.72 |
| 7 | Anna Fernstädt | CZE | 9 | 5.89 | 5.84 | 58.83 | 59.21 | 1:58.04 |
| 8 | Janine Flock | AUT | 21 | 5.71 | 5.70 | 59.09 | 59.02 | 1:58.11 |
| 9 | Kelly Curtis | USA | 4 | 5.57 | 5.69 | 59.10 | 59.10 | 1:58.20 |
| 10 | Nicole Silveira | BRA | 11 | 5.70 | 5.77 | 59.24 | 59.27 | 1:58.51 |
| 11 | Jane Channell | CAN | 8 | 5.48 | 5.51 | 59.70 | 58.82 | 1:58.52 |
| 12 | Dan Zhao | CHN | 17 | 5.60 | 5.64 | 59.77 | 59.33 | 1:59.10 |
| 13 | Jaclyn Narracott | AUS | 15 | 5.78 | 5.87 | 59.88 | 59.24 | 1:59.12 |
| 13 | Yuxi Li | CHN | 20 | 5.77 | 5.78 | 59.79 | 59.33 | 1:59.12 |
| 15 | Agathe Bessard | FRA | 18 | 5.88 | 5.86 | 59.91 | 59.28 | 1:59.19 |
| 16 | Brogan Crowley | GBR | 10 | 5.62 | 5.55 | 59.87 | 59.38 | 1:59.25 |
| 17 | Kendall Wesenberg | USA | 7 | 5.86 | 5.87 | 59.28 | 60.17 | 1:59.45 |
| 18 | Alessandra Fumagalli | ITA | 1 | 5.52 | 5.46 | 59.58 | 59.96 | 1:59.54 |
| 19 | Mystique Ro | USA | 3 | 5.47 | 5.48 | 59.27 | 60.47 | 1:59.74 |
| 20 | Kellie Delka | PUR | 19 | 5.83 | 5.85 | 60.70 | 59.77 | 2:00.47 |
| DNF | Valentina Margaglio | ITA | 16 | 5.35 | DNF |
