From Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITA
(November 23, 2025) – Sometimes when it’s your birthday you want to give yourself a little gift. For some maybe it’s a night out, for others it might be just something nice to buy. For Laura Nolte it was a gold medal on the Olympic track in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Nolte and brakewoman Deborah Levi had a top three start in both heats, and Nolte the two quickest runs of the competition on their way to a huge .77 second victory, one of the largest margins in two-woman bobsled in recent memory.
Nolte was presented with cake by her coaches after the race after winning her 21st gold medal in two-woman competition.
Behind the German were two American sleds, both of which had strong races of their own.
Kaysha Love and Azaria Hill came into the second heat in fourth place, trailing Kim Kalicki and Kaillie Armbruster Humphries by .07 and .03 respectively. The duo had the second quickest start of the heat in their second heat, and Love put down an outstanding drive to take the lead from Austria’s Kati Beierl. She then held that lead as neither Kalicki nor Armbruster Humphries could match her second run effort.
Armbruster Humphries, with Sylvia Hoffman on her brakes, had a big start in the second heat and a quick drive. However, Love was just a bit cleaner late in her run and that cost Armbruster Humphries the .02 seconds she lost to her teammate. Still, the American took bronze.
For Love, the silver was her best ever finish as a World Cup bobsled pilot, while for Humphries a bronze medal was her best finish since Sigulda in the 2022/2023 season.
Kalicki had been fighting illness over the last few weeks but still put together two strong runs (second in the first heat, sixth in the second) on her way to a fourth place finish alongside Leonie Fiebig.
Austria’s Kati Beierl looked to be in strong form on her way to a fifth place finish with brakewoman Nicola Pichler. A pair of top five slides put her comfortably into fifth place, one spot ahead of the United States’ Elana Meyers Taylor.
Taylor, with Jasmine Jones on her brakes, also had a pair of top six starts to go with a pair of top six drives on her way to her third top six in four races dating back to last season.
Melissa Lotholz and Skylar Sieben led the way for the Canadian program with a ninth place finish, one spot ahead of Kristen Bujnowski and Dawn Richardson Wilson in tenth. Cynthia Appiah and Eden Wilson rounded out the Canadian effort in 13th, up from 15th in the first heat.
Adele Nicoll, fighting a knee injury, finished 17th for Great Britain alongside brakewoman Ashleigh Nelson.
Australia’s Bree Walker and Kara Reddingius finished 18th, while teammates Sarah Blizzard and Desi Johnson were 23rd.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Nolte / Levi | GER | 6 | 5.13 | 5.16 | 56.98 | 57.25 | 1:54.23 |
| 4 | Love / Hill | USA | 11 | 5.15 | 5.14 | 57.52 | 57.48 | 1:55.00 |
| 3 | Armbruster Humphries / Hoffman | USA | 4 | 5.25 | 5.20 | 57.49 | 57.53 | 1:55.02 |
| 2 | Kalicki / Fiebig | GER | 13 | 5.20 | 5.21 | 57.45 | 57.71 | 1:55.16 |
| 5 | Beierl / Pichler | AUT | 7 | 5.22 | 5.22 | 57.56 | 57.63 | 1:55.19 |
| 6 | Meyers Taylor / Jones | USA | 10 | 5.19 | 5.21 | 57.66 | 57.65 | 1:55.31 |
| 7 | Buckwitz / Schuten | GER | 12 | 5.12 | 5.12 | 57.68 | 57.79 | 1:55.47 |
| 8 | Hasler / Pasternack | SUI | 9 | 5.19 | 5.20 | 57.73 | 57.75 | 1:55.48 |
| 9 | Lotholz / Sieben | CAN | 5 | 5.29 | 5.27 | 57.74 | 57.97 | 1:55.71 |
| 11 | Bujnowski / Richardson Wilson | CAN | 20 | 5.22 | 5.21 | 57.87 | 57.97 | 1:55.84 |
| 10 | Blatty / Kora | SUI | 1 | 5.24 | 5.22 | 57.78 | 58.17 | 1:55.95 |
| 14 | Annen / Morell | SUI | 8 | 5.31 | 5.29 | 57.98 | 57.99 | 1:55.97 |
| 15 | Appiah / Wilson | CAN | 17 | 5.28 | 5.27 | 58.07 | 57.94 | 1:56.01 |
| 13 | Ying / Wang | CHN | 3 | 5.31 | 5.33 | 57.94 | 58.08 | 1:56.02 |
| 12 | Boch / Senechal | FRA | 14 | 5.33 | 5.34 | 57.93 | 58.09 | 1:56.02 |
| 16 | Huai / Wang | CHN | 26 | 5.28 | 5.31 | 58.20 | 57.94 | 1:56.14 |
| 18 | Nicoll / Nelson | GBR | 18 | 5.33 | 5.33 | 58.34 | 58.11 | 1:56.45 |
| 17 | Walker / Reddingius | AUS | 15 | 5.26 | 5.30 | 58.24 | 58.28 | 1:56.52 |
| 19 | Popescu / Vlad | ROU | 23 | 5.43 | 5.44 | 58.35 | 58.38 | 1:56.73 |
| 20 | van Petegem / de Kler | BEL | 19 | 5.32 | 5.35 | 58.48 | 58.44 | 1:56.92 |
| 21 | Voigt / Bonde | DEN | 2 | 5.44 | 58.51 | |||
| 22 | Weiszewski / Adamek | POL | 16 | 5.22 | 58.56 | |||
| 23 | Blizzard / Johnson | AUS | 22 | 5.38 | 58.62 | |||
| 24 | Tajcnarova / Indruchova | CZE | 24 | 5.31 | 59.12 | |||
| 25 | Adeagbo / King | NGR | 25 | 5.60 | 59.98 | |||
| DNF | Haslwanter / Festin | AUT | 21 | 5.47 | DNF |