Gold medallist Kaillie Humphries of Team United States (right) and silver medallist Elana Meyers Taylor (left), also of the U.S., celebrate after the inaugural final of the women’s monobob event at the Winter Games. Adam Pretty/Getty Images hide caption
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Adam Pretty/Getty Images
Gold medallist Kaillie Humphries of Team United States (right) and silver medallist Elana Meyers Taylor (left), also of the U.S., celebrate after the inaugural final of the women’s monobob event at the Winter Games.
Adam Pretty/Getty Images
BEIJING — The U.S.’s Kaillie Humphries and Elana Meyers Taylor became the first women ever to medal — gold and silver, respectively — at the inaugural Olympic monobob event.
Canada’s Christine de Bruin won bronze.
This is not the first time Humphries and Meyers Taylor have shared the podium. The duo have medaled three prior times in the two-woman bobsled event going back to the 2010 Vancouver Games. The Beijing Winter Games are their fourth appearance at the Olympics.
This is Humphries’ first Olympics representing Team USA. The 36-year-old previously competed and medaled for Canada, but left following a harassment complaint against the country’s bobsled and skeleton team. She previously won Team Canada gold in the two-woman bobsled event in 2010 and 2014 and bronze for the same event at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.
The 37-year-old Meyers Taylor won silver in 2018 and 2014 and won bronze at the 2010 Vancouver Games, also for the two-woman bobsled event.
Humphries was the favorite leading into the competition after winning the 2021 World Championship for monobob in Altenberg, Germany. She maintained her top performance during the two days of competition. She laid down the fastest two runs on Sunday at Yanqing National Sliding Center.
On Monday, Humphries completed her run with a total time of 4:19.27.
USA’s Kaillie Humphries competes in the women’s monobob bobsleigh event at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games on Feb. 14, 2022. Daniel Mithailescu/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
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Daniel Mithailescu/AFP via Getty Images
USA’s Kaillie Humphries competes in the women’s monobob bobsleigh event at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games on Feb. 14, 2022.
Daniel Mithailescu/AFP via Getty Images
Meyers Taylor was running fourth going into Monday’s competition. But by executing the fastest start time of the final round — 5.62 seconds — she bypassed Canada’s de Bruin. A final run placed her right behind Humphries with a total time of 4:20.81.
Meyers Taylor’s achievement is even more notable given she nearly lost out on her ability to participate at the Beijing Olympics entirely. She tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after arriving in Beijing and was placed in isolation. She finally tested positive after days spent in her hotel room.
