Austria's Janine Flock wins World Cup women's skeleton race, 1st victory since 2021

Austria's Janine Flock got her first World Cup skeleton victory in more than three years on Friday, making her the sixth different woman to win in as many races on the circuit so far this season.

Flock's win at Winterberg was her first World Cup victory in a span of 21 races since prevailing on Dec. 31, 2021, at Sigulda, Latvia. Anna Fernstaedt of the Czech Republic tied her World Cup career best by finishing second on Friday, while Hannah Neise of Germany was third.

Neise — who doesn't have a win this season — is the World Cup points leader with 1,188, only 23 points ahead of Flock.

Mystique Ro was the top U.S. woman, placing 11th.

In the men's race, Britain's Matt Weston won on Friday and took over the World Cup series points lead from teammate Marcus Wyatt, 1,255-1,197. Wyatt was eighth on Friday.

Samuel Meier of Austria was second and Germany's Christopher Grotheer was third. Nicholas Tucker of the U.S. was a team-best 14th in his World Cup debut.

The Americans were fourth in the mixed team skeleton event, with Sara Roderick and Daniel Barefoot just missing a medal. Zhao Dan and Lin Quiwei of China won, with Flock and Maier second for Austria and another Chinese sled — Li Yuxi and Yin Zheng — placing third.

Up next

Bobsled: Women's monobob and 2-man on Saturday at Winterberg.

Luge: Men's doubles, women's doubles and women's singles on Saturday at Sigulda.

Skeleton: World Cup at St. Moritz, Switzerland, on Jan. 10.

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