From Winterberg, GER
(January 4, 2025) – The track was quick in Winterberg, and the racing as tight as ever. Lisa Buckwitz put down a pair of great runs including a track record on her way to gold to open the 2025 calendar year.
Buckwitz held the lead after the first heat, but just barely. Behind her, Melanie Hasler, Bree Walker, Laura Nolte, and Debora Annen were all within two tenths of the World Cup leader.
In the second heat, Annen put down a bit of a surprise track record to take the lead from Romania’s Andreea Grecu. The Swiss slider guaranteed herself a career-best finish with that slide to guarantee fifth place.
Up next was Laura Nolte. Nolte out-started Annen, but came back to the Swiss slider in her run, eventually finishing just a hundredth back behind Annen.
Annen’s climb would stop at fourth place, however. Bree Walker broke Annen’s track record by .02 to take the lead and guarantee another medal to start her season.
Switzerland’s strong day in Winterberg continued with Melanie Hasler’s second effort. Her start was a hundredth quicker than her first slide, and her second run was .13 quicker than Walker. That was enough to take the track record from the Aussie for at least a couple of minutes and guarantee her a match of her career-best finish.
The final woman off the top was Buckwitz. Her start was .02 quicker than her first, and her second effort was the fastest ever in Winterberg in a monobob, a 58.25, enough for gold.
It was the second win for Buckwitz this season and the seventh of her career in the single-seater.
Hasler took silver, tying a career-best finish, with Walker in third.
Annen, Nolte, and Grecu rounded out the top six.
Elana Meyers Taylor was the top American in seventh place. Her second run was enough to move her up from ninth in the first heat. Teammate Kaysha Love finished tenth, with Kaillie Armbruster Humphries 12th and Sylvia Hoffman in 15th.
For the Canadians, Cynthia Appiah finished 11th, with Melissa Lotholz 13th, up from 17th in the first heat. Bianca Ribi made her season debut with a 19th place finish.
Sarah Blizzard finished 22nd on the second Aussie sled.
After three races, Lisa Buckwitz leads the World Cup standings ahead of teammate Laura Nolte. Bree Walker is third, with Andreea Grecu fourth and Kim Kalicki fifth.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Lisa Buckwitz | GER | 8 | 5.83 | 5.81 | 58.58 | 58.25 | 1:56.83 |
| 2 | Melanie Hasler | SUI | 14 | 5.93 | 5.92 | 58.61 | 58.31 | 1:56.92 |
| 3 | Breeana Walker | AUS | 10 | 5.94 | 5.93 | 58.67 | 58.44 | 1:57.11 |
| 4 | Debora Annen | SUI | 18 | 6.08 | 6.01 | 58.78 | 58.46 | 1:57.24 |
| 5 | Laura Nolte | GER | 5 | 5.91 | 5.91 | 58.76 | 58.49 | 1:57.25 |
| 6 | Andreea Grecu | ROU | 9 | 5.92 | 5.87 | 58.82 | 58.54 | 1:57.36 |
| 7 | Elana Meyers Taylor | USA | 16 | 6.00 | 5.99 | 58.87 | 58.51 | 1:57.38 |
| 8 | Kim Kalicki | GER | 13 | 5.99 | 6.01 | 58.84 | 58.65 | 1:57.49 |
| 9 | Katrin Beierl | AUT | 15 | 5.97 | 5.99 | 58.91 | 58.61 | 1:57.52 |
| 10 | Kaysha Love | USA | 6 | 5.93 | 5.89 | 58.82 | 58.78 | 1:57.60 |
| 11 | Cynthia Appiah | CAN | 11 | 5.96 | 5.89 | 58.97 | 58.65 | 1:57.62 |
| 12 | Kaillie Armbruster Humphries | USA | 4 | 6.14 | 6.15 | 58.99 | 58.67 | 1:57.66 |
| 13 | Melissa Lotholz | CAN | 12 | 5.94 | 5.90 | 59.12 | 58.65 | 1:57.77 |
| 14 | Qing Ying | CHN | 24 | 6.09 | 6.11 | 59.08 | 58.83 | 1:57.91 |
| 15 | Sylvia Hoffman | USA | 1 | 5.85 | 5.89 | 59.10 | 58.90 | 1:58.00 |
| 16 | Kelly Van Petegem | BEL | 17 | 6.10 | 6.09 | 59.07 | 58.95 | 1:58.02 |
| 17 | Maja Voigt | DEN | 22 | 6.09 | 6.06 | 59.08 | 58.99 | 1:58.07 |
| 18 | Margot Boch | FRA | 7 | 6.17 | 6.13 | 59.25 | 58.98 | 1:58.23 |
| 19 | Bianca Ribi | CAN | 21 | 6.12 | 6.13 | 59.29 | 58.95 | 1:58.24 |
| 20 | Patricia Tajcnarova | CZE | 20 | 6.12 | 6.11 | 59.39 | 59.08 | 1:58.47 |
| 21 | Linda Weiszewski | POL | 3 | 6.11 | 59.49 | |||
| 22 | Sarah Blizzard | AUS | 19 | 6.18 | 59.52 | |||
| 23 | Loren Djolo | NED | 23 | 6.09 | 59.80 | |||
| 24 | Georgeta Popescu | ROU | 2 | 6.30 | 60.17 |