From Igls, AUT
(November 26, 2021) – Russian Elena Nikitina won her second straight gold medal in Igls, beating out Kimberley Bos for top honors.
Nikitina carried a .23 second lead over the Dutch slider going into the second heat. On that second run Bos was better, setting the second quickest downtime of the heat. Nikitina, though, had enough from the first run to overcome Bos’s strong second run to win by .20.
The gold was the second in two races for Nikitina, while Bos’s silver was the fifth of her career. Of those, four have come in Igls.
Italian slider Valentina Margaglio put down the fastest run of the second heat, enough to leapfrog a number of women to jump from eighth after the first run to third place for her first career IBSF World Cup medal. The bronze for Margaglio is her second at the top level of sliding, with her first coming in the 2020 IBSF World Championships mixed team competition alongside teammate Mattia Gaspari.
Russia came close to putting at least two women in the medals, but came up a bit short. Alina Tarrychenkova finished fourth, while teammate Yulia Kanakina finished one spot back in fifth. Belgium’s Kim Meylemans rounded out the top six after moving up from seventh in the first heat.
The United States put in a strong showing in Igls. Megan Henry led the way in seventh place, tied with World Cup defending champion Janine Flock. Katie Uhlaender, the 2012 World Champion, put down a big second run to move up from tenth to ninth. Teammate Kelly Curtis finished the race in 14th place after entering the second heat in 13th. Curtis’s two races in Igls to start the World Cup season were her first two ever trips to the Austrian course.
The Canadian women both missed out on a top ten by a slim margin. Mimi Rahneva was edged out of the top ten by just .03 to finish 11th. Jane Channell finished one spot back, tied with four-time world champion Tina Hermann.
The British women struggled to match the day’s success of their men’s skeleton counterparts. Brogan Crowley led the way in 17th, while teammate Laura Deas finished in 20th.
Germany’s Jacqueline Lölling failed to find any speed on the track in Igls as she scored a career-worst 21st place finish. It was her first ever time missing the second cut in a race.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Elena Nikitina | RUS | 8 | 5.17 | 5.18 | 53.80 | 54.03 | 1:47.83 |
| 2 | Kimberley Bos | NED | 13 | 5.40 | 5.37 | 54.03 | 54.00 | 1:48.03 |
| 3 | Valentina Margaglio | ITA | 12 | 5.18 | 5.21 | 54.30 | 53.98 | 1:48.28 |
| 4 | Alina Tararychenkova | RUS | 5 | 5.30 | 5.31 | 54.22 | 54.18 | 1:48.40 |
| 5 | Yulia Kanakina | RUS | 15 | 5.23 | 5.24 | 54.21 | 54.22 | 1:48.43 |
| 6 | Kim Meylemans | BEL | 9 | 5.28 | 5.34 | 54.28 | 54.24 | 1:48.52 |
| 7 | Megan Henry | USA | 11 | 5.37 | 5.43 | 54.26 | 54.34 | 1:48.60 |
| 7 | Janine Flock | AUT | 6 | 5.52 | 5.55 | 54.26 | 54.34 | 1:48.60 |
| 9 | Katie Uhlaender | USA | 19 | 5.45 | 5.50 | 54.37 | 54.25 | 1:48.62 |
| 10 | Hannah Neise | GER | 21 | 5.63 | 5.62 | 54.32 | 54.59 | 1:48.91 |
| 11 | Mirela Rahneva | CAN | 17 | 5.43 | 5.45 | 54.48 | 54.46 | 1:48.94 |
| 12 | Jane Channell | CAN | 7 | 5.31 | 5.35 | 54.50 | 54.61 | 1:49.11 |
| 12 | Tina Hermann | GER | 10 | 5.55 | 5.58 | 54.51 | 54.60 | 1:49.11 |
| 14 | Kelly Curtis | USA | 4 | 5.47 | 5.47 | 54.51 | 54.64 | 1:49.15 |
| 15 | Dan Zhao | CHN | 23 | 5.37 | 5.40 | 54.51 | 54.68 | 1:49.19 |
| 16 | Anna Fernstädt | CZE | 18 | 5.66 | 5.66 | 54.59 | 54.67 | 1:49.26 |
| 17 | Brogan Crowley | GBR | 20 | 5.27 | 5.33 | 54.59 | 54.77 | 1:49.36 |
| 18 | Yuxi Li | CHN | 22 | 5.33 | 5.42 | 54.66 | 54.86 | 1:49.52 |
| 19 | Jaclyn Narracott | AUS | 16 | 5.53 | 5.57 | 54.58 | 54.98 | 1:49.56 |
| 20 | Laura Deas | GBR | 1 | 5.42 | 5.60 | 54.82 | 55.56 | 1:50.38 |
| 21 | Jacqueline Lölling | GER | 14 | 5.78 | 55.00 | |||
| 22 | Alessia Crippa | ITA | 2 | 5.44 | 55.03 | |||
| 23 | Endija Terauda | LAT | 3 | 5.68 | 55.25 | |||
| 24 | Agahthe Bessard | FRA | 24 | 5.73 | 55.39 | |||
| 25 | Eunji Kim | KOR | 25 | 5.43 | 55.51 |
