Germany continued its strong start to the Olympic season by placing two athletes on the podium at the IBSF Women’s Monobob World Cup in Winterberg, where Laura Nolte claimed victory with a combined time of 1 minute, 58.37 seconds. Nolte backed up a solid opening run with another clean second heat to hold off a deep field on the technically demanding German track.
Canada’s Cynthia Appiah finished 2nd in 1:58.53, just 0.16 behind the win. Appiah was one of the most consistent athletes across both heats, posting identical start times in each run and remaining firmly in podium position throughout the competition. Germany’s Lisa Buckwitz placed 3rd at 1:58.57. She was leading after the first heat, but a slightly slower second run dropped her just behind Nolte and Appiah in an exceptionally tight top three separated by only 0.20 seconds.
The United States put three sleds inside the top eight, led by Kaillie Humphries, who finished 5th with a total time of 1:58.70. Humphries was competitive through both heats and remained within a third of a second of the lead despite a conservative start relative to the podium contenders. Just behind her, Elana Meyers Taylor finished 6th in 1:58.73, tying Canada’s Melissa Lotholz on total time and ending 0.36 seconds off the win. Meyers Taylor delivered a stronger second run after a slower opening heat to move up the standings and remain firmly in the hunt early in the season.
Kaysha Love rounded out the American results in 8th place at 1:58.78. Love produced one of the quickest second runs in the field, jumping up several positions and finishing just 0.41 seconds back.
Australia’s Bree Walker (1:58.86) placed 9th, while Switzerland’s Melanie Hasler (1:58.89) finished 10th as the margins across the top 10 remained under half a second. Germany’s Kim Kalicki took 11th, with Great Britain’s Adele Nicoll (1:58.99) close behind in 12th.
With the top eight separated by just over four-tenths of a second, the Winterberg results reinforced how fine the margins are in women’s monobob as the World Cup season continues toward the 2026 Milan Cortina Games.
Horn, del Duca lead U.S. charge to top-5 finishes at Winterberg 2-Man World Cup
Germany swept the podium in the men’s two-man bobsled World Cup in Winterberg, led by Johannes Lochner and Georg Fleischhauer, who took the win with a combined time of 1 minute, 49.81 seconds after posting the fastest first heat and backing it up with a controlled second run. Fellow Germans Adam Ammour and Alexander Schuller finished 2nd at 1:50.11, followed by Francesco Friedrich and Alexander Schuller in 3rd at 1:50.32, giving the host nation a clean sweep in a race defined by strong starts and dominant speed through the lower sections.
The United States placed two sleds inside the top five, led by Kristopher Horn and Carsten Vissering, who finished 4th in 1:50.68. The American duo opened with the fastest start of the first heat and stayed competitive throughout, ending just 0.87 seconds off the win. Close behind, Frank del Duca and Joshua Williamson placed 5th at 1:50.73, keeping the U.S. firmly in contention in a deep and fast field.
South Korea’s Jinsu Kim and Hyeonggeun Kim finished 6th, while China’s Kaizhi Sun and Tai An took 7th. Switzerland’s Michael Vogt and Amadou David Ndiaye rounded out the top eight, as margins remained tight through the upper half of the standings.
Romania’s Mihai Cristian Tentea and Andrei Nica finished 9th, followed by Austria’s Markus Treichl and Daniel Bertschler in 10th and Latvia’s Renars Grantins and Edgars Ungurs in 11th.