Two Woman Bobsled: Humphries Eyes Gold, Nolte Leads at Milan Cortina
Kaillie Humphries delivered the fastest time among the three American sleds during Run 2 of the two-woman bobsled competition, securing 3rd place behind Germany’s formidable duo, Laura Nolte and Lisa Buckwitz. The competition at Milan Cortina is heating up, and the race for gold is tighter than ever.
Humphries’ Pursuit of Olympic Glory
While Humphries didn’t reach the two-woman podium at Beijing 2022, her track record speaks volumes. The 40-year-old boasts gold medals from Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014, earned while representing Canada. Now, competing for Team USA, she’s tantalizingly close to adding another medal to her collection, trailing the gold medal position by a mere 0.23 seconds. Her partnership with push athlete Jasmine Jones is proving to be a powerful force.
Nolte Sets the Standard
Defending Olympic gold medalist Nolte started strong as the top-seeded sled, even setting a track record. However, Humphries and Jones initially edged ahead by a mere 0.05 seconds. Nolte, with brakewoman Deborah Levi, responded with a blistering Run 2, reclaiming the lead and positioning themselves for a potential gold medal victory. Nolte is determined to secure her first gold at Milan Cortina, having narrowly missed out in monobob by just 0.04 seconds.
The Competition Heats Up
Buckwitz, a two-woman gold medalist at PyeongChang 2018 and 4th place finisher at Beijing 2022, also surpassed Humphries, holding a 0.05-second advantage. Kaysha Love and Azaria Hill, 6th after Run 1, demonstrated improvement in Run 2, climbing to 5th place, though still 0.39 seconds off the medal pace.
Meyers Taylor Faces Setback
A challenging Run 2 derailed the hopes of defending two-woman bronze medalist Elana Meyers Taylor and her rookie brakewoman Jadin O’Brien. A costly mistake at the start, colliding with the wall and skidding into the first curve, cost them a full second, dropping them to 12th place.
“I saw it going right to the wall. I tried to steer it away and just could not react in time,” Meyers Taylor explained to reporters. “So we hit [the wall], skidded up the first curve, and after you do that, it’s game over. I tried to salvage the run as much as possible, but when you make that kind of mistake, that is devastating. It’s just hard to fight back.”
Despite the setback, Meyers Taylor remains optimistic. “You’re never out of it,” she stated. “It’s a pretty intimidating lead, but at the end of the day, we get to go back and be in the sled. I’ve got two more runs at Olympic level, and I’m going to make the best of it. That’s all you can really do.”
What’s Next?
The two-woman competition continues Saturday, Feb. 21, with Run 3 scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. ET. The final medal run will follow at 3:05 p.m. ET. Don’t miss the exciting conclusion to this thrilling event! You can find more information about the Winter Olympics at NBC Olympics.
Note: Some components of NBCOlympics.com may not be optimized for users browsing with Internet Explorer 11, 10 or older browsers or systems. A Division of NBCUniversal © 2026 NBCUniversal. All rights reserved. Any use, reproduction, modification, distribution, display or performance of this material without NBCUniversal’s prior written consent is prohibited. Use of the Website signifies your agreement to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. ©IOC 2026 Official Results powered by Deloitte. Timing and results management by Omega.
