From Winterberg, GER
(February 25, 2023) – Madeleine Egle bookended her 2022/2023 campaign with gold medals, but it was Julia Taubitz who finished the season on top of the standings.
Egle led a Austrian one-two after the first heat of competition, with teammate Lisa Schulte behind her in second place, with USA’s Emily Sweeney and the Germans all in contention for medals behind them.
On the second run it was Dajana Eitberger who was the breakout slider. Making her final run as a singles athlete before making the transition to doubles luge for the 2023/2024 season, Eitberger threw down a 56.1 that was enough to shoot her up the leaderboard.
Eitberger held the lead until teammate Anna Berreiter took over as leader from sixth in the first heat with a time that nearly matched Eitberger’s.
Berreiter held on as Taubitz, Hannah Prock, and Sweeney all slid down behind her. But then Austrian Lisa Schulte took over in the leader’s box from second in the first heat to guarantee Austria a gold medal.
The last slider down was Egle, who had started the season with three wins but had struggled to get near the podium since a disastrous weekend in Sigulda. Her second run was nearly flawless, and the only slide faster than Eitberger’s, as she took her fourth gold medal of the season.
Schulte won silver for her first medal on the season, while Berreiter moved up from sixth to win bronze.
USA’s Sweeney was edged out by Berreiter for the final podium spot and finished fourth, with Taubitz fifth and Eitberger sixth.
The women who would make up the season top three were secured prior to the race, but their positions were still up for grabs. Taubitz’s two clean runs gave her the overall title, ahead of Eitberger in second, with Berreiter ending her season in third place.
Egle and Sweeney rounded out the top five.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Madeleine Egle | AUT | 18 | 5.156 | 5.068 | 56.761 | 56.082 | 1:52.843 |
| 2 | Lisa Schulte | AUT | 7 | 5.215 | 5.146 | 56.884 | 56.183 | 1:53.067 |
| 3 | Anna Berreiter | GER | 19 | 5.179 | 5.102 | 57.108 | 55.980 | 1:53.088 |
| 4 | Emily Sweeney | USA | 11 | 5.180 | 5.172 | 56.919 | 56.229 | 1:53.148 |
| 5 | Julia Taubitz | GER | 17 | 5.222 | 5.129 | 57.060 | 56.131 | 1:53.191 |
| 6 | Dajana Eitberger | GER | 20 | 5.235 | 5.142 | 57.289 | 56.100 | 1:53.389 |
| 7 | Sandra Robatscher | ITA | 8 | 5.212 | 5.114 | 57.227 | 56.298 | 1:53.525 |
| 8 | Natalie Maag | SUI | 14 | 5.252 | 5.190 | 57.140 | 56.428 | 1:53.568 |
| 9 | Hannah Prock | AUT | 13 | 5.258 | 5.223 | 57.031 | 56.594 | 1:53.625 |
| 10 | Kendija Aparjode | LAT | 12 | 5.197 | 5.151 | 57.216 | 56.419 | 1:53.635 |
| 11 | Sigita Berzina | LAT | 9 | 5.112 | 5.112 | 57.282 | 56.605 | 1:53.887 |
| 12 | Merle Fräbel | GER | 15 | 5.235 | 5.228 | 57.508 | 56.781 | 1:54.289 |
| 13 | Elina Vitola | LAT | 16 | 5.189 | 5.129 | 57.690 | 56.639 | 1:54.329 |
| 14 | Andrea Vötter | ITA | 10 | 5.268 | 5.139 | 57.720 | 56.654 | 1:54.374 |
| 15 | Marion Oberhofer | ITA | 6 | 5.259 | 5.292 | 57.681 | 57.581 | 1:55.262 |
| 16 | Peixuan Wang | CHN | 3 | 5.187 | 5.203 | 57.898 | 57.431 | 1:55.329 |
| 17 | Raluca Stramaturaru | ROU | 5 | 5.236 | 5.396 | 57.905 | 57.726 | 1:55.631 |
| 18 | Tove Kohala | SWE | 4 | 5.339 | 5.282 | 58.336 | 57.493 | 1:55.829 |
| 19 | Klaudia Domaradzka | POL | 2 | 5.187 | 5.277 | 58.521 | 57.741 | 1:56.262 |
| 20 | Adikeyoumu Gulijienaiti | CHN | 1 | 5.300 | 5.290 | 60.408 | 58.775 | 1:59.183 |
