From Sigulda, LAT
(February 2, 2024) – Canada’s Mimi Rahneva rallied from behind in the first heat to win gold in Sigulda.
Rahneva trailed Belgium’s Kim Meylemans and Austria’s Janine Flock after one run, but only .11 out of the lead. Behind them, Great Britain’s Amelia Coltman and Germany’s Hannah Neise both sat within shouting distance of the medals, .21 and .23 from the lead respectively.
In the second heat Neise put down a top three run as she slid into the lead ahead of Kimberley Bos. She held that lead as Coltman couldn’t rally from a late skid and finished .08 behind Neise.
Then it was Rahneva’s turn. Like many others before her, the Canadian was much better on her second run and put down a near track-record run to take the lead.
Flock, a three-time winner in Sigulda, was uncharacteristically bumpy at the bottom half of her second run and fell well out of the medals, leaving only Meylemans between Rahneva and gold.
Meylemans had led the race after one heat in the previous race in Lillehammer before giving away both the win and a medal after a brutal second run. This time the Belgian was much cleaner, however not as quick as Rahneva was, and with that Meylemans finished second as Rahneva took gold.
The win for Rahneva was her fifth on the IBSF World Cup tour and 15th World Cup medal overall. For Meylemans, the silver medal was a career-best finish at the World Cup level.
Neise took bronze as she held off Coltman by .08 for the final spot on the World Cup podium.
Coltman finished fourth, a career-best, while Flock took fifth.
While the majority of athletes found time in their second run, nobody made as much of an improvement as Kimberley Bos. The reigning Olympic bronze medalist bettered her second run by 1.12 to a track record 51.31 to move up from 15th in the first heat to sixth.
The United States’ Katie Uhlaender picked up nearly a half of a second from her first heat to slide from 14th to 12th. Teammate Mystique Ro had the second quickest start in both heats but her second run was wild and a number of wall hits dropped her to 16th. Sara Roderick popped the groove at the start, and while she had an otherwise clean slide her downtime suffered as she finished 31st to round out the American effort.
Hallie Clarke slid to a top ten finish in eighth in the her second look at Sigulda to give her a third top ten of the season. Jane Channell cleaned up her second run after a skiddy first trip down a bit, and that was enough to move her up to 17th place from 18th in the first heat.
Great Britain put two sliders in the top ten, as Freya Tarbit slid into tenth, up from 12th in the first heat. That was, in part, at the expense of teammate Tabitha Stoecker, who had a rough second run and fell from ninth to 14th.
The race also doubled as the European Championship, a title that Kim Meylemans took gold in, ahead of Hannah Neise and Amelia Coltman.
Kimberley Bos leads the World Cup standings with two races to go. She is 44 points ahead of Kim Meylemans, with Valentina Margaglio in third. Tina Hermann and Janine Flock round out the top five.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Mirela Rahneva | CAN | 17 | 5.05 | 5.02 | 51.75 | 51.35 | 1:43.10 |
| 2 | Kim Meylemans | BEL | 8 | 5.05 | 5.02 | 51.64 | 51.74 | 1:43.38 |
| 3 | Hannah Neise | GER | 4 | 5.27 | 5.25 | 51.87 | 51.54 | 1:43.41 |
| 4 | Amelia Coltman | GBR | 20 | 5.16 | 5.15 | 51.85 | 51.64 | 1:43.49 |
| 5 | Janine Flock | AUT | 6 | 5.30 | 5.27 | 51.73 | 51.77 | 1:43.50 |
| 6 | Kimberley Bos | NED | 12 | 5.10 | 5.06 | 52.43 | 51.31 | 1:43.74 |
| 7 | Susanne Kreher | GER | 11 | 5.10 | 5.10 | 52.06 | 51.75 | 1:43.81 |
| 8 | Hallie Clarke | CAN | 15 | 5.13 | 5.09 | 52.27 | 51.58 | 1:43.85 |
| 9 | Jacqueline Pfeifer | GER | 13 | 5.37 | 5.31 | 52.26 | 51.70 | 1:43.96 |
| 10 | Freya Tarbit | GBR | 26 | 5.03 | 4.98 | 52.31 | 51.71 | 1:44.02 |
| 11 | Dan Zhao | CHN | 14 | 5.16 | 5.09 | 52.18 | 51.93 | 1:44.11 |
| 12 | Katie Uhlaender | USA | 23 | 5.28 | 5.30 | 52.33 | 51.85 | 1:44.18 |
| 13 | Valentina Margaglio | ITA | 7 | 5.00 | 4.97 | 52.44 | 51.82 | 1:44.26 |
| 14 | Tabitha Stoecker | GBR | 16 | 4.91 | 4.91 | 52.24 | 52.06 | 1:44.30 |
| 15 | Tina Hermann | GER | 10 | 5.39 | 5.46 | 52.45 | 51.91 | 1:44.36 |
| 16 | Mystique Ro | USA | 5 | 4.92 | 4.92 | 52.08 | 52.29 | 1:44.37 |
| 17 | Jane Channell | CAN | 22 | 5.03 | 5.05 | 52.46 | 52.04 | 1:44.50 |
| 18 | Alessandra Fumagalli | ITA | 24 | 5.10 | 5.09 | 52.32 | 52.32 | 1:44.64 |
| 19 | Alessia Crippa | ITA | 19 | 5.06 | 5.06 | 52.64 | 52.03 | 1:44.67 |
| 20 | Darta Zunte | EST | 31 | 5.31 | 5.25 | 52.52 | 52.15 | 1:44.67 |
| 21 | Yuxi Li | CHN | 18 | 5.18 | 5.17 | 52.60 | 52.10 | 1:44.70 |
| 22 | Julia Erlacher | AUT | 27 | 5.13 | 5.14 | 52.67 | 52.26 | 1:44.93 |
| 23 | Annia Unterscheider | AUT | 28 | 5.52 | 5.53 | 52.77 | 52.38 | 1:45.15 |
| 24 | Kellie Delka | PUR | 3 | 5.33 | 5.34 | 53.01 | 52.28 | 1:45.29 |
| 25 | Endija Terauda | LAT | 33 | 5.48 | 5.46 | 53.00 | 52.61 | 1:45.61 |
| 26 | Nicole Silveira | BRA | 9 | 5.26 | 53.08 | |||
| 27 | Julia Simmchen | SUI | 2 | 5.48 | 53.32 | |||
| 28 | Anna Fernstädt | CZE | 21 | 5.45 | 53.41 | |||
| 29 | Laura Vargas | COL | 32 | 5.52 | 53.50 | |||
| 30 | Aline Pelckmans | BEL | 29 | 5.39 | 53.52 | |||
| 31 | Sara Roderick | USA | 25 | 5.19 | 53.75 | |||
| 32 | Katharina Eigenmann | LIE | 30 | 5.68 | 53.96 | |||
| 33 | Ana Torres Quevedo | ESP | 1 | 5.88 | 54.52 |