From Sigulda, LAT
(February 19, 2023) – The chase for the IBSF World Cup two-woman bobsled title came down to the final race of the season in Sigulda in what was effectively a race-off for the championship.
Germany’s Laura Nolte and Kim Kalicki entered the race in first and second place in the standings, separated by only ten points. That meant if either woman were to win in the finale in Sigulda they would be the World Cup champion.
Lingering around in the discussion for the overall title was also newly crowed World Cup monobob champion Kaillie Humphries, who still had an outside chance of winning the season title if anything were to happen to the two Germans.
After the first run in Sigulda Nolte had the lead over Kalicki and Humphries, who were tied just .09 back. On the second run Humphries and brakewoman Kaysha Love put down a quick start and clean slide that was enough to put Humphries into the lead and at least clinch third place in the season standings.
Kalicki was next to slide. She and Anabel Galander picked up .08 on their first start time, and though the bottom portion of their run was a bit sloppy, it still put Kalicki into the lead by .1 over Humphries.
Laura Nolte was the last pilot off. On the strength of an outstanding push by Neele Schulten, the quickest of the competition, Nolte opened up a gap between herself and Kclicki. Despite some early wall-taps, Nolte was able to hold on to the top spot, win gold, and win the crystal globe.
Kalicki finished second, both in the race and in the season points. Humphries, making her first two-woman start ever in Sigulda, finished third.
Qing Ying backed up China’s first monobob World Cup medal with a strong fourth place showing. Melanie Hasler moved up from sixth to fifth with her second run, while Canada’s Cynthia Appiah finished sixth.
In the World Cup points standings Nolte won by 25 points over Kalicki with Humphries in third, well ahead of anyone behind her.
Humphries’s bronze medal was also enough to win her the women’s bobsled combined title, which uses both the monobob and two-woman race results. Nolte and Kalicki finished second and third in that point race.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Nolte / Schuten | GER | 9 | 5.37 | 5.29 | 50.80 | 50.93 | 1:41.73 |
| 2 | Kalicki / Galander | GER | 7 | 5.40 | 5.32 | 50.89 | 50.98 | 1:41.87 |
| 3 | Humphries / Love | USA | 8 | 5.32 | 5.33 | 50.89 | 51.08 | 1:41.97 |
| 4 | Ying / Wang | CHN | 3 | 5.46 | 5.50 | 51.20 | 51.56 | 1:42.76 |
| 5 | Hasler / Naef | SUI | 4 | 5.46 | 5.45 | 51.29 | 51.52 | 1:42.81 |
| 6 | Appiah / Walkeden | CAN | 2 | 5.41 | 5.46 | 51.11 | 51.71 | 1:42.82 |
| 7 | Huai / Wang | CHN | 6 | 5.40 | 5.39 | 51.38 | 51.60 | 1:42.98 |
| 8 | Grecu / Vlad | ROU | 5 | 5.51 | 5.55 | 51.41 | 51.74 | 1:43.15 |
| 9 | Cernanska / Mokrasova | SVK | 1 | 5.76 | 5.83 | 51.94 | 52.20 | 1:44.14 |
