From Winterberg, GER
(November 30, 2024) – Germany’s Viktoria Dönicke slid to her second career Europe Cup gold medal in the season opener in Winterberg.
In a large field of 33 sliders, Dönicke not only was the quickest in both heats but also had the quick start in both heats along with the fast time at every split down the German track on her way to a .8 second victory.
The win was Dönicke’s second, and second in a row after winning the season-ending race in Igls last season.
Behind the German was Great Britain’s Isabella Fassnidge, who had a pair of top five starts of her own. She was in third, behind Austria’s Julia Erlacher, after the first run but had the second quickest downtime of the second heat to leapfrog the Austrian and finish second.
Erlacher held onto bronze, a full .4 ahead of Latvia’s Marta Andzane.
Andzane’s fourth place finish was her first top ten at the senior levels of sliding. She held off Germany’s Selina Frohberger by just .08 for the spot, while Frohberger edged out the United States’ Michelle Toukan also by .08.
Toukan, the lone American in the field, scored her second straight top six with that sixth place finish. She’d previously finished fifth to end the Europe Cup in the 2023/2024 season.
Great Britain plasced two women in the top ten. Leah Kidd finished ninth, 2.27 behind Dönicke, in her first international event. Regan Walker finished 21st, up from 22nd in the first heat, in her Europe Cup debut.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Finish |
| 1 | Viktoria Dönicke | GER | 7 | 5.13 | 5.10 | 56.96 | 56.88 | 1:53.84 |
| 2 | Isabella Fassnidge | GBR | 4 | 5.36 | 5.42 | 57.62 | 57.02 | 1:54.64 |
| 3 | Julia Erlacher | AUT | 8 | 5.36 | 5.33 | 57.45 | 57.63 | 1:55.08 |
| 4 | Marta Andzane | LAT | 18 | 5.72 | 5.59 | 57.95 | 57.53 | 1:55.48 |
| 5 | Selina Frohberger | GER | 25 | 5.71 | 5.69 | 57.80 | 57.76 | 1:55.56 |
| 6 | Michelle Toukan | USA | 5 | 5.52 | 5.45 | 57.96 | 57.68 | 1:55.64 |
| 7 | Viktoria Hansova | GER | 1 | 5.41 | 5.48 | 57.72 | 57.95 | 1:55.67 |
| 8 | Stefanie Votz | GER | 2 | 5.93 | 5.93 | 57.87 | 58.13 | 1:56.00 |
| 9 | Leah Kidd | GBR | 23 | 5.60 | 5.55 | 58.16 | 57.95 | 1:56.11 |
| 10 | Cosima Sebastian | GER | 33 | 5.76 | 5.75 | 58.02 | 58.20 | 1:56.22 |
| 11 | Darta Neimane | LAT | 20 | 5.52 | 5.51 | 58.12 | 58.16 | 1:56.28 |
| 12 | Charlize Reimann | GER | 24 | 5.82 | 5.83 | 58.29 | 58.17 | 1:56.46 |
| 13 | Annia Unterscheider | AUT | 6 | 5.67 | 5.65 | 58.44 | 58.05 | 1:56.49 |
| 14 | Sarah Baumgartner | AUT | 32 | 5.78 | 5.75 | 58.27 | 58.32 | 1:56.59 |
| 15 | Nicole Burger | RSA | 13 | 5.46 | 5.42 | 58.19 | 58.62 | 1:56.81 |
| 16 | Nanna Johansen | DEN | 10 | 5.86 | 5.81 | 58.67 | 58.32 | 1:56.99 |
| 17 | Marta Jakobczyk | POL | 30 | 5.78 | 5.80 | 58.74 | 58.44 | 1:57.18 |
| 18 | Eire Rowland-Evans | IRL | 15 | 5.75 | 5.69 | 58.67 | 58.52 | 1:57.19 |
| 19 | Yanqi Zhu | CHN | 3 | 5.43 | 5.40 | 58.62 | 58.79 | 1:57.41 |
| 20 | Alessia Gatti | ITA | 11 | 5.34 | 5.32 | 58.82 | 58.66 | 1:57.48 |
| 21 | Regan Walker | GBR | 28 | 5.57 | 5.55 | 58.99 | 58.54 | 1:57.53 |
| 22 | Adelina Badara | ROU | 29 | 5.90 | 5.90 | 59.00 | 58.64 | 1:57.64 |
| 23 | Sarah Lüscher | SUI | 21 | 6.01 | 5.97 | 59.36 | 58.81 | 1:58.17 |
| 24 | Carolin Alexa Andrä | SUI | 14 | 5.53 | 5.53 | 58.96 | 59.97 | 1:58.93 |
| 25 | Angel Osakue | ITA | 9 | 5.59 | 5.67 | 59.29 | 60.05 | 1:59.34 |
| 26 | Vanesa Vidina | LAT | 19 | 5.68 | 59.44 | |||
| 27 | Katharina Eigenmann | LIE | 16 | 5.73 | 59.48 | |||
| 28 | Laura Legere | LAT | 26 | 5.73 | 59.57 | |||
| 29 | Ioana Toma | ROU | 31 | 5.76 | 59.78 | |||
| 30 | Kamila Krustina | LAT | 27 | 5.81 | 59.81 | |||
| 31 | Ana Torres Quevedo | ESP | 12 | 5.97 | 60.30 | |||
| 32 | Florijn de Haas | NED | 17 | 6.25 | 60.32 | |||
| 33 | Yevheniia Kovalchuk | UKR | 22 | 6.36 | 60.93 |
