From St. Moritz, SUI
(January 13, 2024) – Lisa Buckwitz’s monster 2023/2024 season continued as the IBSF World Cup tour made its way to St. Moritz, with the German pilot scoring a come from behind victory over German teammate Laura Nolte.
Buckwitz trailed both Nolte and Australian Bree Walker after the first heat, with Nolte the leader and Walker .02 back. Buckwitz’s second drive was exactly one second quicker than her first effort and more than enough to take the lead from the United States’ Elana Meyer Taylor.
Walker was next down in the second heat and a few mistakes early scrubbed off enough speed where the Aussie couldn’t catch back up with Buckwitz and finished .15 back.
Nolte was the final slider down. Her second effort needed to be great to match Buckwitz. Nolte’s second slide was good…but not great as she finished her run in second place, .13 behind Buckwitz, giving her teammate the gold medal, while she took silver and Walker bronze.
The win for Buckwitz was her fourth straight between monobob and two-woman bobsled.
The United States’ Elana Meyers Taylor moved up to fourth place from seventh in the first heat on the strength of a huge second slide that was .91 quicker than her first effort. After her, neither Melanie Hasler, Qing Ying, or Kim Kalicki could come close to Meyer Taylor’s second run pace.
Hasler also moved up, from sixth to fifth, while Kim Kalicki fell from fourth to sixth with a second run that was good but not quite as clean as she needed.
The United States had two women who were taking their first World Cup looks at St. Moritz. Kaysha Love, a medal contender in the first three races of the season, couldn’t quite find the pace that she’d had earlier this season. She finished ninth.
Lauren Brzozowski made her World Cup debut for the United States with her first ever look at the historic track. She slid to a 19th place finish with a second run that looked far more comfortable than the first.
Cynthia Appiah led the way for Canada with a 11th place finish, up from 12th in the first heat. Bianca Ribi dropped one spot in her second heat after France’s Margot Boch threw down a big second run that was .8 quicker than her first.
Great Britain’s Adele Nicoll, also making her first trips down St. Moritz in the front of a bobsled, scored her second top ten of the season with a tenth place finish.
Lisa Buckwitz takes the World Cup lead over Bree Walker with Kaysha Love in third. Laura Nolte and Melanie Hasler round out the top five at the halfway point of the season.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Lisa Buckwitz | GER | 11 | 5.83 | 5.79 | 71.89 | 70.89 | 2:22.78 |
| 2 | Laura Nolte | GER | 12 | 5.93 | 5.94 | 71.77 | 71.14 | 2:22.91 |
| 3 | Breeana Walker | AUS | 8 | 5.89 | 5.87 | 71.79 | 71.14 | 2:22.93 |
| 4 | Elana Meyers Taylor | USA | 6 | 5.97 | 5.90 | 72.08 | 71.17 | 2:23.25 |
| 5 | Melanie Hasler | SUI | 10 | 5.87 | 5.85 | 72.01 | 71.30 | 2:23.31 |
| 6 | Kim Kalicki | GER | 20 | 6.01 | 5.97 | 71.99 | 71.42 | 2:23.41 |
| 7 | Andreea Grecu | ROU | 4 | 5.84 | 5.82 | 72.25 | 71.55 | 2:23.80 |
| 8 | Qing Ying | CHN | 14 | 5.93 | 5.94 | 72.00 | 71.81 | 2:23.81 |
| 9 | Kaysha Love | USA | 5 | 5.87 | 5.79 | 72.35 | 71.66 | 2:24.01 |
| 10 | Adele Nicoll | GBR | 15 | 6.02 | 5.98 | 72.44 | 71.74 | 2:24.18 |
| 11 | Cynthia Appiah | CAN | 9 | 5.89 | 5.88 | 72.62 | 71.90 | 2:24.52 |
| 12 | Viktoria Cernanska | SVK | 3 | 6.19 | 6.16 | 72.71 | 71.97 | 2:24.68 |
| 13 | Linda Weiszewski | POL | 18 | 5.95 | 4.94 | 72.44 | 72.43 | 2:24.87 |
| 14 | Margot Boch | FRA | 13 | 6.12 | 6.14 | 72.86 | 72.03 | 2:24.89 |
| 15 | Bianca Ribi | CAN | 7 | 6.05 | 6.05 | 72.76 | 72.18 | 2:24.94 |
| 16 | Kelly van Petegem | BEL | 19 | 6.02 | 6.03 | 73.22 | 72.51 | 2:25.73 |
| 17 | Mingming Huai | CHN | 16 | 6.06 | 6.11 | 73.42 | 72.73 | 2:26.15 |
| 18 | Katrin Beierl | AUT | 17 | 6.06 | 6.07 | 73.01 | 73.25 | 2:26.26 |
| 19 | Lauren Brzozowski | USA | 1 | 6.08 | 6.02 | 73.54 | 72.82 | 2:26.36 |
| 20 | Georgeta Popescu | ROU | 2 | 6.19 | 6.24 | 74.34 | 74.00 | 2:28.34 |
