The three-time skeleton world champion Jacqueline Pfeifer celebrated her second victory of the season at the World Cup final in Altenberg and made an exclamation point at the Olympic dress rehearsal in the Erzgebirge. The 30-year-old won confidently on Friday after setting a track record in the second run and triumphed, as she did at the start at the end of November, on the track at the upcoming Winter Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
“That gives me a good feeling and a lot of self-confidence. We have shown that we have to be taken into account,” said Pfeifer on ZDF.
After two runs, Pfeifer was 33 hundredths ahead of Susanne Kreher, who secured a German double victory and secured her ticket to her first Olympic Games at the last minute on her home track.
With third place, the Belgian Kim Meylemans (+0.34 seconds) took the overall World Cup for the first time. For the three-time season winner, who was born in Amberg in Upper Palatinate, a 16th place would have been enough to stay ahead of Pfeifer, who ultimately placed second.
Pfeifer had won the overall World Cup three times under her former name Lölling (2016/17, 2017/18 and 2019/20). For the first time since her last triumph, she made it into the top three of the final rankings.
Hannah Neise, second at the start of the season in December, said goodbye to the Olympics with a good fifth place after she was unable to compete at the top in Winterberg (19th) and St. Moritz (21st). Corinna Leipold achieved her best result of the season in eighth place.
