From Igls, AUT
(January 13, 2024) – The FIL World Cup has made its way to Austria, with racing in Igls. Last season the Austrians dominated with gold medals in every event, and this season they kicked off the event with another gold by Madeleine Egle.
As they’ve done over the course of the season, Egle and Julia Taubitz broke away from the field in the first heat, with Egle ahead of Taubitz by .023. The remainder of the field, led by Germany’s Anna Berreiter, was left to battle for bronze.
In the second heat Berreiter held her spot after a spirited second run by the United States’ Ashley Farquharson moved her up into medal contention.
Taubitz was the penultimate slider in the second heat and cruised to the lead ahead of Berreiter by over two tenths of the second.
Egle, battling a shoulder injury still, pulled off with the fourth quickest start of the heat. She took the lead early on, but never by more than a couple of hundredths of a second. Egle crossed the finish line with a second downtime that nearly mirrored Taubitz’s and was enough to give her a .024 second victory over Taubitz.
Egle’s victory was her third of the season, while Taubitz’s silver was her third silver medal on the year.
Behind the two gold medal contenders, Berreiter took bronze after edging out Farquharson by just .038.
Farquharson’s fourth place finish, up from seventh in the first heat, came on the strength of the third quickest run of the final heat.
Austria’s Lisa Schulte rounded out the top five.
The United States’ women had a strong showing in Igls with three women in the top seven. Behind Farquharson, Emily Sweeney finished sixth and Summer Britcher seventh. Emma Erickson finished 22nd as she continued her first season on the World Cup tour.
Embyr-Lee Susko put together two good runs to finish 17th as the top Canadian. Teammates Trinity Ellis and Caitlin Nash finished 18th and 23rd, respectively.
After five events between the full World Cup and Sprint races, Julia Taubitz is the tour point leader, ahead of Madeleine Egle by 40 points. Ashley Farquharson currently sits third, with Anna Berreiter and Emily Sweeney rounding out the top five.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Madeleine Egle | AUT | 29 | 2.123 | 2.105 | 39.599 | 39.601 | 1:19.200 |
| 2 | Julia Taubitz | GER | 26 | 2.124 | 2.122 | 39.622 | 39.602 | 1:19.224 |
| 3 | Anna Berreiter | GER | 28 | 2.105 | 2.093 | 39.747 | 39.692 | 1:19.439 |
| 4 | Ashley Farquharson | USA | 27 | 2.159 | 2.150 | 39.820 | 39.657 | 1:19.477 |
| 5 | Lisa Schulte | AUT | 25 | 2.148 | 2.122 | 39.755 | 39.738 | 1:19.493 |
| 6 | Emily Sweeney | USA | 30 | 2.154 | 2.146 | 39.851 | 39.751 | 1:19.602 |
| 7 | Summer Britcher | USA | 23 | 2.147 | 2.144 | 39.804 | 39.874 | 1:19.678 |
| 8 | Elina Vitola | LAT | 24 | 2.100 | 2.098 | 39.785 | 39.901 | 1:19.686 |
| 9 | Verena Hofer | ITA | 16 | 2.124 | 2.123 | 39.892 | 39.863 | 1:19.755 |
| 10 | Hannah Prock | AUT | 20 | 2.156 | 2.139 | 39.936 | 39.907 | 1:19.843 |
| 11 | Kendija Aparjode | LAT | 22 | 2.134 | 2.135 | 39.942 | 39.936 | 1:19.878 |
| 12 | Natalie Maag | SUI | 19 | 2.176 | 2.150 | 40.048 | 39.880 | 1:19.928 |
| 13 | Sandra Robatscher | ITA | 18 | 2.141 | 2.144 | 40.054 | 39.884 | 1:19.938 |
| 14 | Merle Fräbel | GER | 21 | 2.137 | 2.132 | 39.935 | 40.008 | 1:19.943 |
| 15 | Sigita Berzina | LAT | 13 | 2.110 | 2.102 | 39.969 | 39.978 | 1:19.947 |
| 16 | Melina Fischer | GER | 10 | 2.143 | 2.142 | 40.019 | 39.975 | 1:19.994 |
| 17 | Embyr-Lee Susko | CAN | 12 | 2.144 | 2.145 | 40.020 | 39.996 | 1:20.016 |
| 18 | Trinity Ellis | CAN | 11 | 2.144 | 2.141 | 40.066 | 39.990 | 1:20.056 |
| 19 | Nina Zöggeler | ITA | 15 | 2.152 | 2.157 | 40.022 | 40.068 | 1:20.090 |
| 20 | Barbara Allmaier | AUT | 17 | 2.152 | 2.152 | 40.028 | 40.070 | 1:20.098 |
| 21 | Zane Kaluma | LAT | 14 | 2.141 | 2.136 | 40.176 | 40.102 | 1:20.278 |
| 22 | Emma Erickson | USA | 9 | 2.142 | 2.134 | 40.249 | 40.204 | 1:20.453 |
| 23 | Caitlin Nash | CAN | 8 | 2.138 | 2.132 | 40.183 | 40.403 | 1:20.586 |
| 23 | Tove Kohala | SWE | 7 | 2.162 | 2.162 | 40.366 | 40.220 | 1:20.586 |
| 25 | Annalena Huber | ITA | 6 | 2.174 | 2.180 | 40.332 | 40.382 | 1:20.714 |
| 26 | Huilan Hu | CHN | 5 | 2.155 | 2.151 | 40.444 | 40.354 | 1:20.798 |
| 27 | Ioana-Corina Buzatoiu | ROU | 4 | 2.160 | 2.173 | 40.627 | 40.242 | 1:20.869 |
| 28 | Hyesun Jung | KOR | 1 | 2.148 | 2.152 | 40.552 | 40.474 | 1:21.026 |
| 29 | Anna Shkret | UKR | 2 | 2.203 | 2.202 | 40.598 | 40.578 | 1:21.176 |
| 30 | Peixuan Wang | CHN | 3 | 2.174 | 2.130 | 40.970 | 40.949 | 1:21.919 |