From Altenberg, GER
(January 5, 2024) – Maureen Zimmer came from behind to win gold in the first Europe Cup monobob race of 2024.
Zimmer trailed Nigeria’s Simidele Adeagbo and Switzerland’s Debora Annen after one heat, with a handful of sliders behind all in contention for medals.
In the second heat Zimmer took the lead from German teammate Charlotte Candrix, who had slid into the lead from sixth place in the first heat. Adeagbo, looking for a career-best finish, wasn’t able to match her first run’s pace and fell down the order to leave only Annen between Zimmer and gold.
Annen’s second start was quicker, but she was messier below the Kreisel and finished well behind Adeagbo to hand the win to Zimmer.
The gold for Zimmer was her second of the Europe Cup season, she hasn’t finished off of the top two spots of the podium since a fourth place finish in the 2022/2023 season in Altenberg.
Candrix had the only sub-61 second run in the second heat to catapult her from sixth to silver, while Belgium’s Kelly van Petegem finished with a bronze.
Slovakia’s Viktoria Cernanska finished the day in fourth with two consistent runs, while Adeagbo and Annen finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
Australia’s Sarah Blizzard finished eighth, a career-best in Altenberg, while Italy’s Simona de Silvestro finished 14th after a bumpy first run set her well back.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Finish |
| 1 | Maureen Zimmer | GER | 7 | 6.01 | 6.02 | 60.14 | 61.11 | 2:01.25 |
| 2 | Charlotte Candrix | GER | 11 | 6.30 | 6.30 | 60.43 | 60.86 | 2:01.29 |
| 3 | Kelly van Petegem | BEL | 8 | 6.26 | 6.21 | 60.26 | 61.14 | 2:01.40 |
| 4 | Viktoria Cernanska | SVK | 6 | 6.37 | 6.39 | 60.16 | 61.34 | 2:01.50 |
| 5 | Simidele Adeagbo | NGR | 3 | 6.19 | 6.24 | 60.13 | 61.50 | 2:01.63 |
| 6 | Debora Annen | SUI | 9 | 6.31 | 6.29 | 60.10 | 62.04 | 2:02.14 |
| 7 | Diana Filipszki | GER | 4 | 6.52 | 6.53 | 60.64 | 61.65 | 2:02.29 |
| 8 | Sarah Blizzard | AUS | 5 | 6.43 | 6.45 | 60.56 | 61.97 | 2:02.53 |
| 9 | Giada Andreutti | ITA | 10 | 6.70 | 6.75 | 61.09 | 62.17 | 2:03.26 |
| 10 | Georgeta Popescu | ROU | 1 | 6.44 | 6.47 | 61.91 | 61.47 | 2:03.38 |
| 11 | Patricia Tajcnarova | CZE | 12 | 6.28 | 6.30 | 61.00 | 62.58 | 2:03.58 |
| 12 | Lea Haslwanter | AUT | 14 | 6.33 | 6.37 | 62.46 | 62.51 | 2:04.97 |
| 13 | Maja Voigt | DEN | 15 | 6.14 | 6.25 | 62.72 | 64.90 | 2:07.62 |
| 14 | Simona de Silvestro | ITA | 2 | 6.59 | 6.73 | 66.24 | 62.10 | 2:08.34 |
| DNS | Inola Blatty | SUI | 13 | 6.22 | 62.56 | DNS |
