From Igls, AUT
(December 3, 2021) – China’s Dan Zhao won gold in Igls in her first start on the Intercontinental Cup tour, beating out a strong field of veterans to take the top spot.
Zhao put down a pair of strong starts (third and fifth quickest in the two heats) to put herself in contention off the top, and matched them with the two best downtimes of the race on her way to a .22 second victory over Susanne Kreher.
For Zhao, the win came in just her third senior level start race at any level. She’d previously raced in two World Cup races in Igls to start the season and finished in 15th and 19th in those two events.
Kreher, who’d won the previous two ICC races in Park City, came into the second heat .14 behind Zhao. Her second run was nearly identical to her first and enough to keep her in the medals, but wasn’t strong enough to upend the Chinese rookie.
Canada’s Hallie Clarke continued her breakout season with a bronze medal in her second ever race in Europe at any level. Clarke previously had competed in the Youth Olympic Games in St. Moritz, but otherwise had only competed on North American tracks.
Clarke’s teammate Madi Charney finished one spot back in fourth place, up from fifth in the first heat. Yuxi Li of China finished fifth, .03 behind Charney, while Russia’s Anastasia Trufanova finished sixth.
Sophia Griebel, the point leader coming into the event, finished eighth.
The United States didn’t put any of their athletes in the top six but did place all three within the top ten. Kendall Wesenberg led the way for the Americans in seventh place, while Sara Roderick and Savannah Graybill rounded out the top ten in ninth and tenth, respectively.
Great Britain’s Amelia Coltman finished 11th.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Finish |
| 1 | Dan Zhao | CHN | 11 | 5.37 | 5.44 | 54.07 | 54.18 | 1:48.25 |
| 2 | Susanne Kreher | GER | 10 | 5.49 | 5.49 | 54.21 | 54.26 | 1:48.47 |
| 3 | Hallie Clarke | CAN | 7 | 5.42 | 5.37 | 54.28 | 54.32 | 1:48.60 |
| 4 | Madison Charney | CAN | 6 | 5.53 | 5.57 | 54.41 | 54.50 | 1:48.91 |
| 5 | Yuxi Li | CHN | 14 | 5.28 | 5.29 | 54.37 | 54.57 | 1:48.94 |
| 6 | Anastasia Trufanova | RUS | 3 | 5.47 | 5.49 | 54.41 | 54.64 | 1:49.05 |
| 7 | Kendall Wesenberg | USA | 13 | 5.59 | 5.64 | 54.51 | 54.59 | 1:49.10 |
| 8 | Sophia Griebel | GER | 5 | 5.54 | 5.52 | 54.67 | 54.62 | 1:49.29 |
| 9 | Sara Roderick | USA | 4 | 5.35 | 5.38 | 54.56 | 54.79 | 1:49.35 |
| 10 | Savannah Graybill | USA | 9 | 5.69 | 5.64 | 54.81 | 54.73 | 1:49.54 |
| 11 | Amelia Coltman | GBR | 16 | 5.57 | 5.58 | 55.12 | 54.97 | 1:50.09 |
| 12 | Alena Frolova | RUS | 12 | 5.46 | 5.47 | 55.10 | 55.01 | 1:50.11 |
| 13 | Stefanie Votz | GER | 12 | 6.00 | 5.99 | 55.04 | 55.15 | 1:50.19 |
| 14 | Darta Zunte | LAT | 17 | 5.62 | 5.60 | 55.15 | 55.29 | 1:50.44 |
| 15 | Julia Erlacher | AUT | 2 | 5.44 | 5.37 | 55.33 | 55.13 | 1:50.46 |
| 16 | Eunji Kim | KOR | 18 | 5.49 | 5.50 | 55.46 | 55.07 | 1:50.53 |
| 17 | Alessandra Fumagalli | ITA | 15 | 5.51 | 5.53 | 55.34 | 55.53 | 1:50.87 |
| 18 | Carolin Andrae | SUI | 20 | 5.65 | 5.67 | 55.62 | 55.86 | 1:51.48 |
| 19 | Katharina Eigenmann | LIE | 19 | 6.04 | 6.09 | 56.22 | 56.66 | 1:52.88 |
| 20 | Shannon Galea | MLT | 1 | 6.06 | 6.14 | 57.34 | 58.25 | 1:55.59 |
