Olympic Champion Kaillie Humphries second, Kim Kalicki on the podium for the first time
Winterberg (RWH) Bobsleigh pilot Laura Nolte celebrated her second victory of the season in women's monobob at the BMW IBSF World Cup in Winterberg (GER). In front of fans and friends on her home track, Nolte set the best time in second race run to head from fourth place to the victory.
Second place went to Olympic and World Champion Kaillie Humphries (USA, 0.18 seconds back). One hundredth of a second behind her Kim Kalicki (GER, 0.19 seconds back) celebrated her first podium finish in the solo discipline of the female bobsleigh pilots.
Melanie Hasler from Switzerland, surprisingly in the lead after the first World Cup run in Winterberg, dropped back to seventh place as the last starter in the final run.
Youth Olympic Champion and Junior European Champion Georgeta Popescu from Romania finished 14th in her World Cup debut. U23 World Champion Viktoria Cernanska (SVK) finished 13th in what was also her first start in the BMW IBSF World Cup.
In the overall ranking for the 2022/2023 BMW IBSF World Cup, Kaillie Humphries (USA, 845) defended her lead over Laura Nolte (GER, 810) after four of the eight races. Lisa Buckwitz (GER, 754), fourth in Winterberg, is third overall at the World Cup halfway point.
For more detailed information including athlete profiles and results please visit ibsf.org. Photos for editorial use can be found at Flickr. ©RWH2023
Laura Nolte (GER, 2021 World Championship bronze medalist).
"It was very exciting for me today. In the first run I had a huge mistake. That really annoyed me and I thought it cost me the victory. I honestly didn't expect to still win. I missed my fans and friends and family at the track so much last year - accordingly, I was super happy to see so many here today."
Kaillie Humphries (USA, 2021 World Champion, 2022 Olympic Champion)
„Winterberg is my most challenging track, I had some of my worst results here. So I gladly take a second place. The women before me made it very hard to me to get on the podium and to win and I want to do it the same now. It makes us as athletes better and it makes the sport better for all countries.“
Kim Kalicki (GER, World Championship sixth in 2021)
"Finally a podium finish in monobob as well! Here in Winterberg it depends a lot on the start. My first run was very decent, in the second I had one or two edges in it, especially in the upper part. And of course I also needed the mistakes of the others today to get on the podium. That's part of it."
Photos: IBSF / Viesturs Lacis
