From Königssee, Germany
Sometimes losing is the best thing that can happen to a champion. After last week’s bronze medal, Kaillie Humphries is back out in front. The Canadian is .16 ahead of Swiss national champion Caroline Spahni who had a very clean and quick run, but couldn’t quite keep pace with the 2010 Olympic champion. Cathleen Martini sits third after the first heat and is the only German pilot in the top five. The teams of Meyer/Huwiler and Kamphuis/Vis round out the top five. British slider Paula Walker is looking to come back after a disappointing Altenberg race, and sits tied for sixth with Germany’s Sandra Kiriasis.
There’s a logjam from about eighth on back, with USA’s Jazmine Fenlator leading the way on a snow-covered track. Elana Meyers and Jamie Greubel are both directly behind her in 10th and 11th. There’s just .2 from Fenlator in eighth back to Canada’s Jennifer Ciochetti, who’s in 15th. The second British sled, piloted by Mica McNeill, finishes in 21st and will not run the second heat.
Results after Heat 1:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Draw | Run 1 |
| 1 | Humphries/Valois | CAN 1 | 7 | 51.40 |
| 2 | Spahni/Walser | SUI 2 | 13 | 51.66 |
| 3 | Martini/Tischer | GER 2 | 5 | 51.68 |
| 4 | Meyer/Huwiler | SUI 1 | 9 | 51.75 |
| 5 | Kamphuis/Vis | NED 1 | 2 | 51.78 |
| 6 | Kiriasis/Wiacker | GER 1 | 3 | 51.81 |
| 6 | Walker/Denyer | GBR 1 | 10 | 51.81 |
| 8 | Fenlator/Jones | USA 3 | 11 | 52.02 |
| 9 | Willemsen/Marien | BEL 1 | 16 | 52.09 |
| 10 | Meyers/Evans | USA 1 | 6 | 52.10 |
| 11 | Greubel/Azevedo | USA 2 | 1 | 52.12 |
| 12 | Schneiderheinze/Schneider | GER 3 | 8 | 52.14 |
| 13 | Stulneva/Timofeeva | RUS 1 | 15 | 52.15 |
| 14 | Hengster/Tuechi | AUT 1 | 4 | 52.17 |
| 15 | Ciochetti/O’Brien | CAN 2 | 14 | 52.22 |
| 16 | Tambovtseva/Udobkina | RUS 2 | 19 | 52.36 |
| 17 | Radjenovic/Pittman | AUS 1 | 12 | 52.41 |
| 18 | Kostromina/Pahmutova | RUS 3 | 21 | 52.57 |
| 19 | Constantinn/Grecu | ROU 1 | 17 | 52.72 |
| 20 | Diaconu/Spartu | ROU 2 | 20 | 52.84 |
| 21 | McNeill/Adams | GBR 2 | 18 | 53.02 |
