From Sigulda, LAT
(January 20, 2023) – Kim Meylemans slid to European Cup victory in Sigulda, and made history in the process.
Belgium had never won a sliding sport gold medal at any level of competition. That all changed as Meylemans won gold over Great Britain’s Amelia Coltman in the second race of the Latvian European Cup stop.
Meylemans held just a .01 second advantage over Coltman after one run, with the rest of the field well back. On the second run Coltman put down another solid run, enough to take the lead with only Meylemans to go.
The Belgian, coming off an injury suffered in preseason training, had a solid push off the top and slid to what would be the fastest run of the competition to win her first career gold medal and the first ever for Belgium.
Coltman finished second, well ahead of Estonia’s Darta Zunte, who gave Estonia its second ever sliding sport medal.
Italy’s Alessia Crippa finished fourth, ahead of Viktoria Hansova of Germany in fifth. The United States’ Mystique Ro finished sixth.
Ashlyn Bland, making her second start in Sigulda, finished 12th for Great Britain.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Finish |
| 1 | Kim Meylemans | BEL | 9 | 5.15 | 5.15 | 52.15 | 52.03 | 1:44.18 |
| 2 | Amelia Coltman | GBR | 8 | 5.07 | 5.08 | 52.16 | 52.29 | 1:44.45 |
| 3 | Darta Zunte | EST | 10 | 5.35 | 5.35 | 52.56 | 52.34 | 1:44.90 |
| 4 | Alessia Crippa | ITA | 4 | 5.01 | 5.01 | 52.55 | 52.57 | 1:45.12 |
| 5 | Viktoria Hansova | GER | 13 | 5.38 | 5.32 | 52.67 | 52.73 | 1:45.40 |
| 6 | Mystique Ro | USA | 11 | 5.05 | 5.02 | 53.00 | 53.02 | 1:46.02 |
| 7 | Anna Saulite | AUT | 12 | 5.42 | 5.39 | 53.02 | 53.15 | 1:46.17 |
| 8 | Annia Unterscheider | AUT | 6 | 5.49 | 5.48 | 53.23 | 53.08 | 1:46.31 |
| 9 | Julia Erlacher | AUT | 5 | 5.11 | 5.15 | 53.05 | 53.27 | 1:46.32 |
| 10 | Selina Frohberger | GER | 14 | 5.50 | 5.48 | 53.41 | 53.27 | 1:46.68 |
| 11 | Marta Andzane | LAT | 2 | 5.46 | 5.45 | 53.37 | 53.37 | 1:46.74 |
| 12 | Ashlyn Bland | GBR | 16 | 5.16 | 5.16 | 53.50 | 53.34 | 1:46.84 |
| 13 | Hanna Staub | GEr | 7 | 5.44 | 5.47 | 53.58 | 53.38 | 1:46.96 |
| 14 | Charlize Reimann | GER | 20 | 5.54 | 5.56 | 53.67 | 54.31 | 1:47.98 |
| 15 | Vanesa Vidina | LAT | 18 | 5.45 | 5.38 | 53.97 | 54.40 | 1:48.37 |
| 16 | Darta Neimane | LAT | 17 | 5.39 | 5.42 | 54.26 | 54.51 | 1:48.77 |
| 17 | Laura Legere | LAT | 19 | 5.60 | 5.63 | 54.43 | 54.65 | 1:49.08 |
| 18 | Angel Osakue | ITA | 1 | 5.33 | 5.38 | 55.51 | 56.28 | 1:51.79 |
| 19 | Siji Song | CHN | 15 | 5.42 | 5.55 | 55.51 | 58.24 | 1:53.75 |
| 20 | Paulina Ewald Grondal | SWE | 3 | 5.99 | 6.00 | 56.47 | 59.35 | 1:55.82 |
