From Bludenz, AUT
(December 1, 2023) – Germany dominated the first race of the 2023/2024 IBSF Europe Cup women’s skeleton season as they swept the the top five spots on the short track in Bludenz.
The race was relatively tight for the medals. Sarah Schwab and teammate Corinna Leipold finished the first heat tied for the lead, with Austria’s Julia Erlacher, Germany’s Hanna Staub and teammate Viktoria Hansova all in the mix for medals.
On the second run it was another German, VIktoria Dönicke, who set the quick time of the heat to move into the lead from sixth place. She held onto the lead as she leapfrogged Hansova before being beaten out by Staub.
With a shot at a medal, Austria’s Erlacher had a big mistake halfway down the 700 meter track and fell to what would eventually be seventh place.
Leipold went next, and also had issues late, though not as bad as Erlacher. She managed to hold onto a medal, finishing just .06 behind Staub to take second with just Schwab to go.
Schwab, in her fourth season on an IBSF tour, didn’t have the quickest second run, but didn’t have to. Her second effort was better than Leipold’s and only .06 slower than Staub’s and enough to win the Europe Cup season opener.
The gold for Schwab was her third on the Europe Cup tour and fourth of her career across all tours.
Staub finished second, ahead of teammates Leipold, Dönicke, and Hansova to round out the top five, with Italy’s Ange Osakue putting down a strong second effort to move up from tenth to sixth place.
Great Britain’s Ashlyn Bland finished 11th, up from 16th in the first heat on the strength of the seventh quickest run of the second heat.
USA’s Michelle Toukan fell from eighth to 14th with in her second heat after a popped groove set her back early in the run.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Finish |
| 1 | Sarah Schwab | GER | 9 | 4.61 | 4.60 | 33.07 | 33.22 | 1:06.29 |
| 2 | Hannah Staub | GER | 8 | 4.65 | 4.63 | 33.19 | 33.16 | 1:06.35 |
| 3 | Corinna Leipold | GER | 13 | 4.60 | 4.58 | 33.07 | 33.34 | 1:06.41 |
| 4 | Viktoria Dönicke | GER | 15 | 4.36 | 4.38 | 33.55 | 32.94 | 1:06.49 |
| 5 | Viktoria Hansova | GER | 7 | 4.56 | 4.59 | 33.31 | 33.37 | 1:06.68 |
| 6 | Angel Osakue | ITA | 20 | 4.61 | 4.58 | 33.66 | 33.29 | 1:06.95 |
| 7 | Julia Erlacher | AUT | 3 | 4.49 | 4.52 | 33.17 | 33.84 | 1:07.01 |
| 8 | Yangqi Zhu | CHN | 1 | 4.53 | 4.53 | 33.63 | 33.40 | 1:07.03 |
| 9 | Siji Song | CHN | 12 | 4.63 | 4.67 | 33.57 | 33.49 | 1:07.06 |
| 10 | Stefanie Votz | GER | 11 | 4.77 | 4.73 | 34.05 | 33.45 | 1:07.50 |
| 11 | Ashlyn Bland | GBR | 21 | 4.56 | 4.61 | 34.16 | 34.38 | 1:07.54 |
| 12 | Annelies Van Dijk | NED | 17 | 4.62 | 4.60 | 33.91 | 33.83 | 1:07.74 |
| 13 | Nanna Johansen | DEN | 16 | 4.74 | 4.72 | 34.07 | 33.78 | 1:07.85 |
| 14 | Michelle Toukan | USA | 6 | 4.56 | 4.68 | 33.62 | 34.52 | 1:08.14 |
| 15 | Ana Torres Quevedo | ESP | 18 | 4.90 | 4.85 | 34.29 | 34.14 | 1:08.43 |
| 16 | Serena Juan | ESP | 14 | 4.69 | 4.72 | 34.21 | 34.29 | 1:08.50 |
| 17 | Alessia Gatti | ITA | 22 | 4.44 | 4.72 | 33.89 | 34.89 | 1:08.78 |
| 18 | Federica Voghera | ITA | 24 | 4.66 | 4.65 | 34.84 | 34.28 | 1:09.12 |
| 19 | Florijn de Haas | NED | 19 | 5.02 | 5.03 | 34.93 | 35.05 | 1:09.98 |
| 20 | Sofiia Hehekha | UKR | 4 | 4.83 | 4.87 | 35.37 | 34.63 | 1:10.00 |
| 21 | Nicole Burger | RSA | 10 | 4.60 | 4.63 | 34.36 | 35.69 | 1:10.05 |
| 22 | Jana Milenovic | SRB | 5 | 5.04 | 5.06 | 36.20 | 36.38 | 1:12.58 |
| 23 | Yevheniia Kovalchuk | UKR | 23 | 5.32 | 5.25 | 37.64 | 36.88 | 1:14.52 |
| DNF | Carolin Alexa Andrä | SUI | 2 | 4.63 | 4.63 | 33.74 | DNF |
