From Pyeongchang, KOR
(February 16, 2025) – Traditionally, one would expect someone to win a gold medal on the World Cup prior to achieving World Champion status, but the Austrians have a habit of doing it a little different. In 2018 in Pyeongchang, David Gleirscher won Olympic gold prior to even finding his way to a World Cup podium. And on Sunday, Lisa Schulte finally won gold in World Cup action a year after winning a World Championships title.
Schulte, who has been lingering around the podium all season with three bronze medals and only one finish outside of the top four, took the lead in the first heat from teammate Hannah Prock, and held it for the remainder of the 25 woman field’s runs.
In the second heat, Prock was edged out by German Merle Fräbel with just Schulte to go. Schulte was nearly flawless over both of her runs, with her second run quicker than her first in a heat where nearly all of the contenders were slower in their second run. The Austrian crossed the finish line .373 ahead of Fräbel, with Prock another .004 back for bronze.
“It was close out of Curve 9 both times,” Schulte said after the race. “”But I had great training and I feel really good here. I’m just happy that I finally made it on top of the podium!”‘
Fräbel was a bit surprised, but happy, with her finish.
“My training from the first run I had really good lines here,” she said. “But I wasn’t fast. I don’t know where it came from but today I was faster, and now I’m on the podium!”
For Prock, a bronze medal came in her first World Cup race back from a back injury that nearly cost her the entire season. She had a strong finish in World Championships, and backed that up with a medal in Pyeongchang.
“This feels amazing,” Prock told FIL media after the race. “I had so much fun this week, and I’m happy I could put down two clean runs today! I’m super happy!”
Latvia’s Kenija Aparjode put down a strong second effort to take fourth, up from sixth in the first heat. Switzerland’s Natalie Maag had a consistent pair of runs to finish fifth, while Ashley Farquharson scored yet another top six in sixth place.
With one race remaining on the FIL World Cup, Madeleine Egle, who was seventh in the race, is the point leader by 20 points over Schulte. Julia Taubitz, who finished one spot behind Egle in the race, is third. Merle Fräbel and Anna Berreiter round out the top five, with Fräbel possibly able to move up with a good race in Yanqing.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Lisa Schulte | AUT | 15 | 4.367 | 4.336 | 46.481 | 46.442 | 1:32.923 |
| 2 | Merle Fräbel | GER | 13 | 4.336 | 4.381 | 46.571 | 46.725 | 1:33.296 |
| 3 | Hannah Prock | AUT | 5 | 4.378 | 4.387 | 46.496 | 46.804 | 1:33.300 |
| 4 | Kendija Aparjode | LAT | 6 | 4.348 | 4.409 | 46.638 | 46.704 | 1:33.342 |
| 5 | Natalie Maag | SUI | 14 | 4.408 | 4.372 | 46.626 | 46.733 | 1:33.359 |
| 6 | Ashley Farquharson | USA | 11 | 4.377 | 4.388 | 46.652 | 46.728 | 1:33.380 |
| 7 | Madeleine Egle | AUT | 12 | 4.306 | 4.328 | 46.621 | 46.779 | 1:33.400 |
| 8 | Julia Taubitz | GER | 17 | 4.343 | 4.346 | 46.956 | 46.583 | 1:33.539 |
| 9 | Barbara Allmaier | AUT | 9 | 4.387 | 4.395 | 46.884 | 46.789 | 1:33.673 |
| 10 | Melina Fischer | GER | 10 | 4.340 | 4.330 | 46.918 | 46.904 | 1:33.822 |
| 11 | Anna Berreiter | GER | 16 | 4.329 | 4.316 | 47.092 | 46.805 | 1:33.897 |
| 12 | Verena Hofer | ITA | 8 | 4.334 | 4.353 | 47.292 | 47.047 | 1:34.339 |
| 13 | Tove Kohala | SWE | 3 | 4.437 | 4.348 | 47.214 | 47.227 | 1:34.441 |
| 14 | Nina Zöggeler | ITA | 4 | 4.418 | 4.375 | 47.251 | 47.355 | 1:34.606 |
| 15 | Ioana-Corina Buzatoiu | ROU | 1 | 4.343 | 4.358 | 47.368 | 47.336 | 1:34.704 |
| 16 | Yulianna Tunytska | UKR | 2 | 4.339 | 4.343 | 47.356 | 47.419 | 1:34.775 |
| 17 | Hyesun Jung | KOR | 18 | 4.392 | 4.401 | 47.399 | 47.560 | 1:34.959 |
| 18 | Peixuan Wang | CHN | 22 | 4.368 | 4.381 | 47.897 | 47.500 | 1:35.397 |
| 19 | Olena Smaha | UKR | 19 | 4.337 | 4.343 | 47.741 | 47.907 | 1:35.648 |
| 20 | Yubin Shin | KOR | 21 | 4.444 | 4.480 | 48.009 | 48.341 | 1:36.350 |
| 21 | Soyoon Kim | KOR | 20 | 4.383 | 48.025 | |||
| 22 | Jiye Park | KOR | 23 | 4.458 | 48.403 | |||
| 23 | Huilan Hu | CHN | 25 | 4.395 | 48.665 | |||
| 24 | Sandra Robatscher | ITA | 7 | 4.360 | 48.968 | |||
| 25 | Elsa Desmond | IRL | 24 | 4.420 | 50.802 |