Laura Nolte missed the podium at the start of the bobsledders’ World Cup in La Plagne – even though she was still in second place at halftime.
The victory went sensationally on Saturday (December 9th, 2023) to the American Kaysha Love, who drove her first World Cup race as a pilot in La Plagne, France.
Thanks to a new start and track record (1:03.79 minutes), she moved to the front in the second round. Melanie Hasler from Switzerland also surprisingly came second (+0.21 seconds), Romanian Andreea Grecu (+0.31) completed the podium.
Nolte falls back in the second run
Laura Nolte was still in second place on the challenging track after the first round. She was only two hundredths of a second behind Elana Meyers Taylor (USA), who was in the lead at the time.
But in the second run, the world champion from Winterberg struggled at the start and was no longer able to compensate for the deficit in the ice track. Since she lacked top speed, she gradually lost tenths of a second and ultimately slipped to fifth place (+0.40). Meyers-Taylor, who made her comeback after a year-long maternity leave, was also no longer able to counter the strong runs of the competition and missed the podium in fourth place (+0.31).
Buckwitz convinces at the start
At her debut as a pilot in La Plagne, Lisa Buckwitz made a driving error in the first run after a promising start and had to catch up to the lead by 0.39 seconds. In the final, the two-man bobsleigh Olympic champion from Pyeongchang once again put in an excellent start time. And this time she also impressed with a clean ride. The reward: seventh place (+0.57).
Kim Kalicki didn’t have a good first run either. Because she missed important seconds at the start, she couldn’t really build up speed in the ice track. In the second round, Altenberg’s third place in the World Championships was able to improve somewhat, but the 26-year-old, whose strengths lie more in the two-man bobsleigh, did not achieve more than twelfth place (+1.51) at the start.
Overall World Cup winner Humphries is missing
Monobob Olympic champion Kaillie Humphries will not be competing in this World Cup season. The record world champion from the USA is expecting her first child. The 38-year-old won the overall World Cup in monobob last winter.