Vitola Wins Women’s World Cup Finale in Sigulda

From Sigulda, LAT

(March 3, 2024) – In front of friends and family on home ice, Elina Vitola slid to gold in the season finale in Sigulda.

Vitola trailed only World Cup point leader Julia Taubitz going into the second heat after Taubitz had put down a track record time of 41.487. In the second heat, Vitola once again put down a clean and quick run to take the lead and solidify a spot on the podium for Latvia.

Elina Vitola (Courtesy FIL TV)

Taubitz was the last slider of the contenders off the top, but for what felt like the first time all season, Taubitz made a mistake early. A skid at the start, coupled with a few mistakes later in the run, dropped Taubitz off of the podium for the first time all season into ninth place.

Vitola’s victory was her first on the season after a pair of silver medals earlier int he year.

Behind Vitola, Anna Berreiter slid to a silver medal from fourth place in the first heat after a second effort that was only bested by Vitola and teammate Merle Fräbel.

Germany’s Fräbel lowered the track record set by Taubitz in the first heat down to a 41.472, which was enough to move up from ninth in the first heat onto the podium with a bronze medal.

For the fourth time in the 2023/2024 World Cup season, the United States’ Ashley Farquharson finished fourth, up from eighth in the first heat. Behind her was Sigita Berzina and Lisa Schulte, who rounded out the top six.

The race was contested using both the modified start order rules where the first heat, held on Saturday, saw Nation’s Cup qualifiers going fifth through first from their race then the seeded groups, then the remainder of the qualifiers. On Sunday, the top 20 went first, from 20th to first, then the remainder of the field from 21st back.

For the United States, Emily Sweeney finished tenth, one spot ahead of teammate Summer Britcher in 11th.

Elsa Desmond finished a season-best 24th after a handful of 25th place finishes earlier in the season.

Julia Taubitz had already won the overall title a few races prior to the season finale, and finished the season 243 points up over teammate Anna Berreiter. Berreiter’s podium finish was enough to keep her ahead of Madeleine Egle, who finished the year in third overall.

Elina Vitola finished the season in fourth, with Lisa Schulte fifth and Ashley Farquharson.

Results:

Pos Name Nation Bib Start 1 Start 2 Run 1 Run 2 Total
1 Elina Vitola LAT 14 1.606 1.608 41.685 41.491 1:23.176
2 Anna Berreiter GER 12 1.623 1.615 41.747 41.503 1:23.250
3 Merle Fräbel GER 16 1.657 1.657 41.819 41.472 1:23.291
4 Ashley Farquharson USA 8 1.663 1.667 41.815 41.510 1:23.325
5 Sigita Berzina LAT 7 1.624 1.619 41.721 41.641 1:23.362
6 Lisa Schulte AUT 9 1.639 1.640 41.812 41.567 1:23.379
7 Kendija Aparjode LAT 10 1.635 1.644 41.762 41.636 1:23.398
8 Madeleine Egle AUT 13 1.603 1.621 41.929 41.619 1:23.548
9 Julia Taubitz GER 15 1.637 1.670 41.487 42.088 1:23.575
10 Emily Sweeney SA 6 1.615 1.633 41.791 41.821 1:23.612
11 Summer Britcher USA 4 1.627 1.643 41.848 41.830 1:23.678
12 Zane Kaluma LAT 2 1.539 1.643 42.097 41.604 1:23.701
13 Verena Hofer ITA 5 1.637 1.654 41.944 41.771 1:23.715
14 Nina Zöggeler ITA 3 1.649 1.646 41.987 41.754 1:23.741
15 Hannah Prock AUT 11 1.662 1.671 42.024 41.846 1:23.870
16 Yulianna Tunytska UKR 1 1.630 1.650 42.130 41.938 1:24.068
17 Tove Kohala SWE 19 1.697 1.674 42.220 42.088 1:24.308
18 Dorothea Schwarz AUT 18 1.700 1.704 42.261 42.097 1:24.358
19 Huilan Hu CHN 22 1.655 1.653 42.428 42.263 1:24.691
20 Olena Stetskiv UKR 21 1.665 1.649 42.570 42.246 1:24.816
21 Peixuan Wang CHN 20 1.640 1.641 42.843 42.225 1:25.068
22 Natalie Maag SUI 17 1.676 1.688 43.845 41.830 1:25.675
23 Ioana-Corina Buzatoiu ROU 23 1.667 1.658 42.778 43.018 1:25.796
24 Elsa Desmond IRL 25 1.681 1.694 42.873 43.296 1:26.169
25 Liangziting Zhou CHN 24 1.713 1.713 42.953 43.232 1:26.185
DNF Liui Xin CHN 27 1.705 1.704 44.816 DNF
DNF Tereza Noskova SVK 26 1.713 DNF