The Vancouver and London 2012 two-woman champion, who drove alongside male team-mates in four-man events last season, had aimed to beat some of the weakest teams in the field beforehand.

She was ultimately unable to do that, however, as she, Cynthia Appiah, Genevieve Thibault and Melissa Lotholz finished 17th and last in 1min 54.47sec after their two runs.

This put them 2.67 seconds behind the 16th placed British quartet and 4.77 seconds behind the winners. 

It was a first victory of the season for reigning world champion Arndt, meanwhile, and enough for him to lead the overall standings halfway through the four-race series.

Every race so far has been won by a German crew.

He finished 0.28 seconds ahead of last year's overall World Cup silver medal winner Alexander Kasjanov of Russia, who was joined by Alexei Pushkarev, Ilvir Huzin and Aleksey Zaytsev.

Justin Kripps of Canada took bronze along with Alexander Kopacz, Derek Plug and Ben Coakwell, 0.37 seconds back.

The British crew driven by Lamin Deen, who came fifth in the 2015 World Championships, enjoyed a best World Cup finish of fourth, just 0.04 seconds away from the podium.

Steven Holcomb, who claimed gold in the two-man event yesterday on home ice, had to settle for eighth place today for the United States.

Arndt now leads the overall standings with 845 points, overtaking fellow German Francesco Friedrich, who was sixth today and lies on 818 points.

Switzerland’s Rico Peter is third overall with 768 points after a fifth place in Lake Placid.

The next International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation World Cup event will take place in Park City, Utah on January 15 and 16.