Kaysha Love (left) and Kaillie Humphries (right) celebrate their win.

ALTENBERG, Germany (December 5, 2021) – Kaillie Humphries (Carlsbad, Calif.) completed a sweep of the Altenberg races by winning the two-woman bobsled World Cup race with Kaysha Love (Heriman, Utah) this morning. Today was Love’s second career World Cup entry, and her first ever World Cup win. Elana Meyers Taylor (Douglasville, Ga.) and Sylvia Hoffman (Arlington, Texas) had two strong runs to finish fifth.

“What a great day for the women’s program,” said USA Bobsled Head Coach Mike Kohn. “I’m really excited about the teamwork that this team is showing. Marc Van Den Berg and Brian Shimer have been doing a heck of a job in the garage preparing equipment. Lolo Jones, Lake Kwaza, Aja Evans and Lauren Gibbs helped prepare Kaillie’s sled and runners, doing everything behind the scenes that no one sees. It allowed Kaillie to fly to the U.S. and back, jump in a sled, and win.”

Love helped Humphries power the Omaze branded sled off the block in 5.74 seconds to match Canadians Cynthia Appiah and Dawn Richardson Wilson for the fourth best start time of the first heat. Humphries navigated the team to the finish in 56.99 seconds to position the team in silver medal position, just 0.02 seconds from leaders Laura Nolte and Deborah Levi of Germany. 

Humphries and Love bettered their start to 5.73 seconds in run two, and Humphries threaded together the fastest run of 57.11 seconds in the final heat to overtake the lead by 0.04 seconds. Humphries completed her sweep of the gold medals in Altenberg with a combined time of 1:54.10.

Humphries only had one day of training on Tuesday. She flew back to the U.S. on Wednesday, was sworn in as a U.S. citizen on Thursday, then flew back to Germany to win the women’s monobob race yesterday and the two-woman race today.

“I was able to rely on my experience over these last two days,” Humphries said. “I’ve raced here many years and I’ve worked extremely hard to be able to be at this level. What you saw was years and years of trial and error coming together, and an absolutely amazing team.”

Love is a track and field sprinter from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and was discovered through the virtual combine on GMTM.com. This is her first season in the sport. 

“It’s so exciting,” Love said. “I was very excited to push for Kaillie, and I was hopeful that I could give her a chance for another podium finish. As always, you never know what’s going to happen, but I wanted to go out there and do my best.”

“This is only Kaysha’s second World Cup, and I’m really excited for our program that we have a young, fantastic brakeman,” Humphries said. “She is super coachable and eager to learn, and I’m looking forward to seeing her continue to grow in this sport. She stepped up in this race, knowing I wouldn’t be at my best and I applaud her.”

Nolte and Levi dropped back into second place with a two-run total of 1:54.14. Christine De Bruin and Kristen Bujnowski of Canada claimed bronze in 1:54.45.

Meyers Taylor teamed up with USA Bobsled National Push Champion Hoffman in the Kamprgrounds of America branded sled for fifth place with a combined time of 1:54.77. The duo posted the second fastest start times of 5.67 and 5.64 seconds, and Meyers Taylor piloted the sled to the finish in 57.37 and 57.40 seconds, both fifth-best of the field. While Meyers Taylor has had success on the German track throughout her career, she admits it isn’t her favorite course.

“I feel pretty good,” Meyers Taylor said. “Sylvia pushed us to some really good start times today. I typically struggle really hard on this track. I always want to win, and I always want to drive better, but some of these tracks are about doing the best I can. Having two races this year in Altenberg isn’t my favorite, but I accept the challenge. It’s great to have Kaillie on our team so I can study her lines, because she can drive this track better than anyone else in the world.”

The four-man bobsled competition is up next at 2 p.m. local time. Streaming will be available via desktop at olympics.com/en/live/, and via mobile, tablet and connected television platforms on the Olympic Channel app. Check local listings for broadcast times on the Olympic Channel and OlympicChannel.com.

For media inquiries, please contact USABS Marketing and Communications Director Amanda Bird at amanda.bird@usabs.com.

###

Results

1. Kaillie Humphries and Kaysha Love (USA) 1:54.10 (56.99, 57.11);

2. Laura Nolte and Deborah Levi (GER) 1:54.14 (56.97, 57.17);

3. Christine De Bruin and Kristen Bujnowski (CAN) 1:54.45 (57.13, 57.32);

5. Elana Meyers Taylor and Sylvia Hoffman (USA) 1:54.77 (57.37, 57.40);

About USA Bobsled/Skeleton

USA Bobsled/Skeleton (USABS), based in Lake Placid, N.Y., is the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton in the United States. For more information, please visit the USABS website at www.usabs.com. Individuals interested in becoming a bobsled or skeleton athlete can visit www.usabobsledskeleton.com.