From Igls, AUT
(December 15, 2023) – Kimberley Bos took gold in yet another tight race in Igls, this time edging out Italy’s Valentina Margaglio for the top spot.
Bos carried a slim lead over Canada’s Mimi Rahneva, Great Britain’s Tabitha Stoecker, Maragaglio, and Austria’s Janine Flock after one run, with all five women separated by only a tenth of a second. The top eight were separated by only .23.
In the second heat Flock set a decent second run time, but appeared to make one small mistake late in her run. She held the lead for about two minutes, until Margaglio put down a heat-quickest start and coupled it with a good enough slide to take the lead from Flock.
From there, neither Stoecker – the winner from a week ago – nor Rahneva could match Margaglio’s time with all five women separated by only .05.
It was then down to Bos. The Dutch slider, while not as quick as Margaglio off the top, still had a competitive push. Her slide, especially through Curve 9, was as immaculate as you could ask for. By the time she hit the final few curves she was in the lead and from there there was no giving away the gold.
The final margin of victory was a “whopping” .17 seconds from first to second, and .22 from first to fifth.
The final result saw a gold for Bos, silver for Margaglio, and bronze for Stoecker, with Flock leapfrogging Rahneva by .01 for fourth, and the Canadian finishing fifth.
In sixth was Belgium’s Kim Meylemans, who moved up from eighth in the first heat.
Sara Roderick was the top American slider in 16th place after some trouble in the second run set her back from 11th after one run. Teammate Mystique Ro had a pair of big starts, but had a bumpy first run that set her back. Her second run was better and she finished the race in 19th.
For Canada, Hallie Clarke finished 20th, one spot behind Ro. Jane Channell had a scary crash late in her run, and while she was okay she was given a DNF for her run as she did not have contact with her sled as she crossed the timing eye.
Great Britain’s Freya Tarbit and Amelia Coltman finished 21st and 22nd to round out the British effort.
After three races in the IBSF World Cup season, Kimberley Bos leads Valentina Margaglio, with Kim Meylemans third. Tina Hermann and Mimi Rahneva round out the top five.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Kimberley Bos | NED | 11 | 5.34 | 5.38 | 53.93 | 53.98 | 1:47.91 |
| 2 | Valentina Margaglio | ITA | 7 | 5.26 | 5.23 | 54.02 | 54.06 | 1:48.08 |
| 3 | Tabitha Stoecker | GBR | 15 | 5.19 | 5.25 | 53.97 | 54.14 | 1:48.11 |
| 4 | Janine Flock | AUT | 22 | 5.57 | 5.59 | 54.03 | 54.09 | 1:48.12 |
| 5 | Mirela Rahneva | CAN | 8 | 5.40 | 5.41 | 53.94 | 54.19 | 1:48.13 |
| 6 | Kim Meylemans | BEL | 9 | 5.40 | 5.38 | 54.16 | 54.10 | 1:48.26 |
| 7 | Nicole Silveira | BRA | 14 | 5.56 | 5.55 | 54.06 | 54.24 | 1:48.30 |
| 8 | Jacqueline Pfeifer | GER | 18 | 5.64 | 5.68 | 54.28 | 54.06 | 1:48.34 |
| 9 | Zhao Dan | CHN | 13 | 5.46 | 5.43 | 54.37 | 54.12 | 1:48.49 |
| 9 | Hannah Neise | GER | 21 | 5.53 | 5.55 | 54.11 | 54.38 | 1:48.49 |
| 11 | Tina Hermann | GER | 5 | 5.69 | 5.67 | 54.38 | 54.25 | 1:48.63 |
| 12 | Susanne Kreher | GER | 19 | 5.54 | 5.41 | 54.38 | 54.30 | 1:48.68 |
| 13 | Kellie Delka | PUR | 1 | 5.50 | 5.53 | 54.26 | 54.58 | 1:48.84 |
| 14 | Alessandra Fumagalli | ITA | 23 | 5.33 | 5.31 | 54.54 | 54.33 | 1:48.87 |
| 15 | Yuxi Li | CHN | 16 | 5.44 | 5.46 | 54.39 | 54.56 | 1:48.95 |
| 16 | Sara Roderick | USA | 25 | 5.33 | 5.39 | 54.35 | 54.67 | 1:49.02 |
| 17 | Julia Erlacher | AUT | 32 | 5.34 | 5.35 | 54.42 | 54.61 | 1:49.03 |
| 18 | Alessia Crippa | ITA | 10 | 5.35 | 5.31 | 54.55 | 54.49 | 1:49.04 |
| 19 | Mystique Ro | USA | 17 | 5.24 | 5.30 | 54.58 | 54.50 | 1:49.08 |
| 20 | Hallie Clarke | CAN | 6 | 5.41 | 5.41 | 54.84 | 54.31 | 1:49.15 |
| 21 | Freya Tarbit | GBR | 2 | 5.36 | 5.39 | 54.84 | 54.40 | 1:49.24 |
| 22 | Amelia Coltman | GBR | 20 | 5.52 | 5.51 | 54.50 | 54.75 | 1:49.25 |
| 23 | Sara Schmied | SUI | 24 | 5.48 | 5.53 | 54.91 | 54.75 | 1:49.66 |
| 24 | Anna Fernstädt | CZE | 4 | 5.69 | 5.78 | 54.85 | 55.15 | 1:50.00 |
| 25 | Aline Pelckmans | BEL | 30 | 5.62 | 54.97 | |||
| 26 | Darta Zunte | EST | 27 | 5.63 | 55.00 | |||
| 27 | Julia Simmchen | SUI | 28 | 5.75 | 55.22 | |||
| 28 | Clara Aznar | ESP | 26 | 5.63 | 55.80 | |||
| 29 | Annia Unterscheider | AUT | 3 | 5.79 | 55.82 | |||
| 30 | Laura Vargas | COL | 29 | 5.77 | 55.95 | |||
| 31 | Katharina Eigenmann | LIE | 31 | 5.95 | 56.12 | |||
| DNF | Jane Channell | CAN | 12 | 5.27 | 5.30 | 54.53 | 56.00 | DNF |
