Hannah Neise already had her first World Championship gold in sight and then had to settle for bronze. The Beijing 2022 Olympic champion was in the lead, but was caught in a thick sleet in the final run and was slowed down on her home track in Winterberg.
Victory was secured by Canadian Hallie Clarke, who at the age of 19 is also the youngest world champion in skeleton history. The Belgian Kim Meylemans came in second, 0.22 seconds behind the Canadian.
The 23-year-old Neise from BSC Winterberg set the best time in the third of four runs and was in the lead with Clarke before the final run. “My face is smiling right now. Gold would have been nice, but my goal was a medal here in front of my home crowd. Hallie simply did a super strong race, she totally deserved it,” said Neise. She was born 40 kilometers away from Winterberg in Arnsberg in the Sauerland region and lives not far in Schmallenberg.
Jacqueline Pfeifer from RSG Hochsauerland came in fifth place. “It was a very good performance from me, but it’s a shame that I missed out on a medal. Such an exciting race was amazing,” said Pfeifer. Defending champion Susanne Kreher from BSC Sachsen Oberbärenburg struggled with the material as she did the day before and had to settle for tenth place. “It’s difficult, I just didn’t have any speed, it just hurts,” commented Kreher.
