From Lake Placid, USA
(March 9, 2025) – Kaysha Love is no stranger to victory as a bobsled pilot, having come into the 2025 World Championships with three World Cup monobob victories, but came into the second day of women’s monobob World Championships looking for her first world title.
To win it, she’d have to fight off some of the best to do it, including former two-woman and monobob world cup champs like Kati Beierl, Elana Meyers Taylor, and Laura Nolte.
Love was the first off the top in the third heat and put down a clean enough run to keep her lead but saw Germany’s Nolte, the reigning world champion, close her gap from .25 to .17. Meyers Taylor also closed her gap to within a quarter of a second, while Beierl, who was just .02 back after two runs faltered and fell to fourth.
Canada’s Cynthia Appiah had a strong fourth and final effort to slide into the lead, and hold it past Beierl to give herself a look at the podium.
But Meyers Taylor was off next and slid to the lead with what would be the third quickest run of the heat. That final run guaranteed the United States a podium with just Nolte and Love to go.
Nolte was next, and put together another consistent start, her third 5.88 of the competition. Her fourth effort was quick, but not as quick as Meyers Taylor’s. It was enough to hold the American back by .05 but left the door wide open for Love.
For the second time in as many heats, Love pushed off with a 5.77, .01 off of her own start record. From there she put down what was the run of her career as she slid to the second quickest downtime of the race and her first world championship, with Nolte silver and Meyers Taylor bronze.
Afterward, Love reflected on the pressure of the final run as the leader in a world championships.
“It was really intimidating,” she said after the race. “I’m not going to lie and not say it didn’t get into my head. But at the end of the day I was just so proud to be amongst the best in the world. And the fact I was still in the mix with these girls kind of made me at peace. If I won, was second, third, or last I’m here competing with the best of the world with the people that I love and that’s all that really mattered.”
Nolte, the two-time reigning world champion coming into the event, wasn’t able to secure a third straight trophy, but was happy with her result.
“I think it’s a driver’s track and you have to drive well here,” Nolte said about the track in Lake Placid. “On this track I don’t have that much experience, especially on the upper part. I think I figured it out during training runs and competitions and I’m very, very happy with this result!”
For Meyers Taylor, a bronze medal got her back on the podium in a world championship event a year after winning silver in Winterberg. They say it takes a village, and Meyers Taylor agrees.
“I have to give it up to my team, because it really is a team effort,” Meyers Taylor said. “I brought out a physio, Nic (Taylor) is here. I have all of these people here to make sure my children are taken care of. My nanny has been a rockstar the entire season. This medal is as much hers as it is mine. So to come away with any medal is exciting and to do it on my home track is all the better!”
Cynthia Appiah finished fourth after putting down a big run in the second heat, then edging out Beierl in the fourth heat. But the Canadian had bigger aspirations in the final run that didn’t entirely pan out.
“Today didn’t go as planned,” Appiah said after the race. “I wanted to move up a lot more. I finished in fourth, so a silver lining because it’s the best I’ve done in a World Championship event, but I really had hoped to be on the podium and get a medal for a bit of a confidence boost going into next week. But I put four decent runs in.”
Germany’s Lisa Buckwitz, the 2024/2025 World Cup champion was fifth, while Beierl couldn’t match her previous day’s success but still scored a sixth place finish, a career-best in a full field monobob event.
Canada’s Kristen Bujnowski had an up and down race but still had a strong finish in seventh place, one sot ahead of USA’s Kaillie Armbruster Humphries, who rounded out the American effort in eighth.
Melissa Lotholz finished 14th on the weekend, while Great Britain’s Adele Nicoll took 16th.
Spain’s Leanna Garcia was 18th in her first World Championships.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Run 1 | Run 2 | Run 3 | Run 4 | Total |
| 1 | Kaysha Love | USA | 5 | 59.50 | 59.49 | 59.49 | 59.34 | 3:57.82 |
| 2 | Laura Nolte | GER | 2 | 59.65 | 59.59 | 59.41 | 59.61 | 3:58.26 |
| 3 | Elana Meyers Taylor | USA | 8 | 59.69 | 59.57 | 59.46 | 59.59 | 3:58.31 |
| 4 | Cynthia Appiah | CAN | 7 | 59.88 | 59.40 | 59.60 | 59.65 | 3:58.53 |
| 5 | Lisa Buckwitz | GER | 1 | 59.84 | 59.65 | 59.63 | 59.48 | 3:58.60 |
| 6 | Katrin Beierl | AUT | 10 | 59.69 | 59.32 | 59.86 | 59.82 | 3:58.69 |
| 7 | Kristen Bujnowski | CAN | 17 | 59.67 | 59.75 | 59.52 | 59.83 | 3:58.77 |
| 8 | Kaillie Armbruster Humphries | USA | 11 | 59.90 | 59.87 | 59.95 | 59.78 | 3:59.50 |
| 9 | Breeana Walker | AUS | 3 | 59.97 | 59.74 | 60.02 | 59.85 | 3:59.58 |
| 10 | Margot Boch | FRA | 14 | 59.89 | 59.94 | 60.02 | 60.34 | 4:0.19 |
| 11 | Kim Kalicki | GER | 4 | 60.20 | 59.91 | 59.98 | 60.02 | 4:00.11 |
| 12 | Andreea Grecu | ROU | 9 | 59.93 | 60.04 | 60.20 | 60.03 | 4:00.20 |
| 13 | Debora Annen | SUI | 12 | 60.14 | 59.90 | 60.11 | 60.11 | 4:00.26 |
| 14 | Melissa Lotholz | CAN | 13 | 60.18 | 59.95 | 60.18 | 60.11 | 4:00.42 |
| 15 | Yooran Kim | KOR | 20 | 60.49 | 60.69 | 60.43 | 60.51 | 4:02.12 |
| 16 | Adele Nicoll | GBR | 15 | 60.60 | 60.47 | 60.76 | 60.91 | 4:02.74 |
| 17 | Patricia Tajcnarova | CZE | 16 | 61.17 | 60.48 | 60.93 | 60.88 | 4:03.46 |
| 18 | Leanna Garcia | ESP | 22 | 61.52 | 61.04 | 60.83 | 61.18 | 4:04.57 |
| 19 | Sin-Rong Lin | TPE | 21 | 61.20 | 61.11 | 61.14 | 61.43 | 4:04.88 |
| 20 | Adanna Johnson | JAM | 19 | 61.70 | 61.44 | 61.14 | 61.57 | 4:05.85 |
| 21 | Agnese Campeol | THA | 18 | 61.61 | 61.56 | 61.51 | 3:04.68 | |
| DNS | Melanie Hasler | SUI | 6 | DNS |