Nfter six victories in six competitions, the German winning streak on the Olympic ice track in Yanqing ended in the seventh race. The first Olympic champion in monobob was Kaillie Humphries, a native Canadian who competes for the United States. Second was her teammate Elana Meyers Taylor, who spent several days in isolation at the start of the Olympics due to positive Covid tests. Third was Christine de Bruin. Laura Nolte from Winterberg came fourth in the Olympic premiere of the competition. Mariama Jamanka, Pyeongchang Olympic champion in 2-man bobsleigh, was 13th.
Meyers Taylor, who has won a bronze and two silver medals in the past three games, was overcome with emotion at the finish. She improved as the competition progressed and was able to outperform de Bruin in the fourth heat. Meyers Taylor, 37, made headlines due to the circumstances of her isolation early in the games. She had traveled to China with her family, including her young child, and had to spend the isolation in a quarantine hotel separately from her son Nico, who was born in 2020.
However, the outstanding pilot in the competition was the 36-year-old Humphries, who, after three best times in the run, went into the last run with a lead of more than one and a half seconds over de Bruin and Meyers Taylor. At the finish she was 1.54 seconds ahead of Meyers Taylor. Humphries was slower than Meyers Taylor at the start, but was able to dominate the competition thanks to her driving class.
Nolte was 0.30 seconds behind in third place. A better placement prevented the second and third run, in which they drove only the seventh and sixth fastest time. Jamaica had no chance after the first run.
Humphries, Olympic gold medalist in 2-man bobsleigh in 2010 and 2014, left the Canadian Bobsleigh Federation after the 2018 Olympics. At the time, she accused the head coach, sporting director and federation president of abuse and harassment, allegations that an investigation launched by the Canadian federation has not confirmed. In 2019, the Canadian federation refused to agree to Humphries’ conditions for further starts under the Canadian flag. Since then, Humphries has started for the United States. A second investigation, initiated by Humphries’ appeal, concluded in the summer of 2021 that the conclusions of the first investigation were unfounded. The Canadian Bobsleigh Federation must now investigate the allegations again. Humphries will be looking to follow up his monobob win with another win in the two-man bobsleigh, with the competition being held on Friday and Saturday. Then Nolte, Jamanka and Wiesbaden’s Kim Kalicki will be among her strongest opponents.
