From Sochi, RUS
(November 27, 2021) – Anna Berreiter overcame adverse ice conditions to win her first gold medal of the 2021/2022 Olympic season.
The German slider qualified into the race through Nation’s Cup racing on Friday, but with that early start time was able to slide on better ice and she found herself in second after one heat, behind Russia’s Ekaterina Katnikova.
On the second run Berreiter was able to put down the eighth quickest run, which was the fastest of the three medal contenders of the first heat and enough to give her gold in the second race of the FIL World Cup season.
Latvia’s Kendija Aparjode put down two very consistent runs to win silver. She entered the second heat in fourth, and despite putting down the sixth quickest run of the heat she was quick enough to win silver.
Viktoriia Demchenko finished third on the strength of a third-fastest first run.
Latvia’s Eliza Tiruma had a big second run on better ice to jump from 14th to fourth, while Germany’s Dajana Eitberger followed her up the order from 11th to fifth. Katnikova, the first heat leader, could only muster the 20th fastest time in the second heat to fall to sixth.
The race was marred by a deteriorating track in very warm conditions, where many of the top-seeded sliders had little chance of competing with athletes who’d gone earlier in the run. Natalie Geisenberger and Julia Taubitz, the tour’s top two sliders in the 2020/2021 season, finished eighth and ninth. Despite two clean runs, neither found themselves anywhere near the medals. Yanqing winner Madeline Egle had the 21st best time in the first heat, but had much better ice and jumped to seventh.
Summer Britcher made the most of a tough situation. Her first run had some mistakes in it, and she found herself in 13th going into the second run. Her second trip down was very clean, and quick enough to move her up into the top ten with a tenth place finish. Teammate Ashley Farquharson wasn’t quite as lucky. Farquharson was fifth after the first run but deteriorating ice conditions plus a few very small errors on her second run dropped her to 12th.
The Canadian women struggled to find pace in Sochi. Trinity Ellis had the 16th and 15th quickest runs of the race, but with the weird conditions and jockeying throughout the order she found herself in 18th. Makena Hodgson, making her first start of the World Cup season, finished 26th.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Anna Berreiter | GER | 14 | 3.951 | 3.957 | 50.173 | 50.476 | 1:40.649 |
| 2 | Kendija Aparjode | LAT | 22 | 3.969 | 3.974 | 50.334 | 50.422 | 1:40.756 |
| 3 | Viktoriia Demchenko | RUS | 15 | 3.948 | 3.963 | 50.330 | 50.587 | 1:40.917 |
| 4 | Eliza Tiruma | LAT | 20 | 3.965 | 3.967 | 50.758 | 50.192 | 1:40.950 |
| 5 | Dajana Eitberger | GER | 24 | 3.972 | 3.967 | 50.690 | 50.263 | 1:40.953 |
| 6 | Ekaterina Katnikova | RUS | 17 | 3.973 | 3.983 | 50.110 | 50.867 | 1:40.977 |
| 7 | Madeleine Egle | AUT | 26 | 3.935 | 3.933 | 51.056 | 49.977 | 1:41.033 |
| 8 | Natalie Geiseberger | GER | 23 | 3.949 | 3.960 | 50.548 | 50.549 | 1:41.097 |
| 9 | Julia Taubitz | GER | 28 | 3.952 | 3.946 | 50.964 | 50.149 | 1:41.113 |
| 10 | Summer Britcher | USA | 21 | 3.973 | 3.964 | 50.755 | 50.393 | 1:41.148 |
| 11 | Marion Oberhofer | ITA | 12 | 3.966 | 3.970 | 50.637 | 50.561 | 1:41.198 |
| 12 | Ashley Farquharson | USA | 18 | 3.993 | 3.999 | 50.609 | 50.626 | 1:41.235 |
| 13 | Hannah Prock | AUT | 5 | 3.981 | 4.002 | 50.421 | 50.819 | 1:41.240 |
| 14 | Nina Zöggeler | ITA | 13 | 3.984 | 3.955 | 50.624 | 50.748 | 1:41.372 |
| 15 | Andrea Vötter | ITA | 16 | 3.942 | 3.956 | 50.618 | 50.762 | 1:41.380 |
| 16 | Verena Hofer | ITA | 10 | 3.947 | 3.957 | 50.695 | 50.725 | 1:41.420 |
| 17 | Lisa Schulte | AUT | 25 | 3.981 | 3.985 | 50.959 | 50.469 | 1:41.428 |
| 18 | Trinity Ellis | CAN | 8 | 3.979 | 3.981 | 50.783 | 50.755 | 1:41.538 |
| 19 | Sigita Berzina | LAT | 9 | 3.955 | 3.962 | 50.774 | 50.949 | 1:41.723 |
| 20 | Diana Loginova | RUS | 2 | 3.990 | 3.997 | 50.803 | 50.976 | 1:41.779 |
| 21 | Raluca Stramaturaru | ROU | 11 | 4.001 | 4.040 | 51.044 | 50.838 | 1:41.882 |
| 22 | Natalie Maag | SUI | 19 | 3.982 | 3.994 | 51.384 | 50.913 | 1:42.297 |
| 23 | Elina Vitola | LAT | 27 | 3.961 | 3.958 | 51.768 | 51.064 | 1:42.832 |
| 24 | Olena Stetskiv | UKR | 4 | 3.972 | 3.977 | 51.181 | 51.706 | 1:42.887 |
| 25 | Peixuan Wang | CHN | 3 | 4.008 | 4.005 | 51.775 | 51.129 | 1:42.904 |
| 26 | Makena Hodgson | CAN | 7 | 4.003 | 4.017 | 52.142 | 50.854 | 1:42.996 |
| 27 | Hyesun Jung | KOR | 1 | 4.043 | 4.050 | 52.731 | 68.346 | 2:01.077 |
| DNS | Aileen Frisch | KOR | 6 | 3.983 | 51.295 | DNS |
