From Altenberg, GER
(December 7, 2024) – After one run in the season opening women’s monobob race, two-time reigning world champion Laura Nolte sat fourth behind one of the greatest women’s bobsledders ever, an upstart in her third race, and a perennial medal contender.
But in the second heat on a track that was significantly different than the first, Nolte threw down a big run and held serve against the three gold medal contenders to win in the opening race of the season.
Australia’s Bree Walker led Switzerland’s Deborah Annen by .02 after one run, with Olympic monobob silver medalist Elana Meyers Taylor in third only .05 back.
In the second heat, with a consistent snow falling, Nolte put down a run that was .82 slower than her first, but was still the second quickest of the heat to that point.
Up next was Meyers Taylor. Her start was competitive, and going into the Kreisel she was well in contention for a medal. But her exit of the Kreisel was too early, and the extra pressure sent her up and over. She would cross the finish line, but fell to 20th.
Annen was up next. In her third World Cup race she was looking for not just her first medal but her first top ten in the discipline. Annen’s slide was bumpy, and only the 11th quickest of the heat, and while she fell out of the medals she had enough in her first run to hold onto a top six.
The final slider off the top was Walker. On a much snowier run than she saw in her first heat, Walker made up some ground on Nolte mid-run, but fell back late and crossed the finish line in fifth place, handing the victory to Nolte.
Behind Nolte, teammate Lisa Buckwitz had the quick start in both heats and the fastest run of the second heat to win silver by .02.
Romania’s Andreea Grecu slid to bronze from sixth place in the first heat, her third medal in the discipline.
Germany’s Kim Kalicki had the very last starting spot in the first heat and slid to eighth place at the break. Her second run was the third quickest and enough to move her to fourth place, a tenth out of the medals.
Walker finished fifth, and Annen sixth.
Olympic gold medalist Kaillie Humphries led the charge for the United States in seventh place. Humphries, who is back from maternity leave, had two consistent runs to hold onto seventh after the first heat. Kaysha Love finished ninth to put two sliders in the top ten.
Sylvia Hoffman made her third career start as a monobob pilot and finished 18th. Meyers Taylor finished 20th.
Canada placed both of their pilots in the top ten, with Cynthia Appiah up from 11th in the first heat to finish eighth, while Melissa Lotholz slid form 14th to tenth.
Australia’s Sarah Blizzard finished 21st.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Laura Nolte | GER | 7 | 6.10 | 6.04 | 59.56 | 60.38 | 1:59.94 |
| 2 | Lisa Buckwitz | GER | 6 | 5.97 | 5.94 | 59.59 | 60.37 | 1:59.96 |
| 3 | Andreea Grecu | ROU | 11 | 6.00 | 5.95 | 59.60 | 60.82 | 2:00.42 |
| 4 | Kim Kalicki | GER | 23 | 6.19 | 6.16 | 60.06 | 60.46 | 2:00.52 |
| 5 | Breeana Walker | AUS | 5 | 6.12 | 6.12 | 59.47 | 61.13 | 2:00.60 |
| 6 | Deborah Annen | SUI | 2 | 6.24 | 6.27 | 59.49 | 61.57 | 2:01.06 |
| 7 | Kaillie Humphries | USA | 1 | 6.38 | 6.58 | 59.85 | 61.61 | 2:01.46 |
| 8 | Cynthia Appiah | CAN | 12 | 6.00 | 6.00 | 60.57 | 61.08 | 2:01.65 |
| 9 | Kaysha Love | USA | 4 | 6.03 | 6.06 | 60.52 | 61.25 | 2:01.77 |
| 10 | Melissa Lotholz | CAN | 14 | 6.06 | 6.06 | 60.79 | 61.13 | 2:01.92 |
| 11 | Margot Boch | FRA | 18 | 6.28 | 6.29 | 60.94 | 61.00 | 2:01.94 |
| 12 | Katrin Beierl | AUT | 9 | 6.16 | 6.17 | 60.19 | 61.77 | 2:01.96 |
| 13 | Adele Nicoll | GBR | 13 | 6.30 | 6.30 | 60.78 | 61.39 | 2:02.17 |
| 14 | Melanie Hasler | SUI | 8 | 6.11 | 6.11 | 60.73 | 61.76 | 2:02.49 |
| 15 | Linda Weiszewski | POL | 17 | 6.17 | 6.16 | 60.93 | 61.86 | 2:02.79 |
| 16 | Kelly van Petegem | BEL | 19 | 6.28 | 6.31 | 60.90 | 61.95 | 2:02.85 |
| 17 | Viktoria Cernanska | SVK | 15 | 6.51 | 6.50 | 61.08 | 61.94 | 2:03.02 |
| 18 | Sylvia Hoffman | USA | 16 | 6.11 | 6.14 | 61.38 | 62.19 | 2:03.57 |
| 19 | Georgeta Popescu | ROU | 21 | 6.42 | 6.55 | 61.79 | 62.90 | 2:04.69 |
| 20 | Elana Meyers Taylor | USA | 10 | 6.09 | 6.07 | 59.52 | 67.49 | 2:07.01 |
| 21 | Sarah Blizzard | AUS | 3 | 6.42 | 62.02 | |||
| 22 | Patricia Tajcnarova | CZE | 20 | 6.35 | 62.11 | |||
| 23 | Lea Haslwanter | AUT | 22 | 6.42 | 62.86 |