From Sigulda, LAT
(December 21, 2025) – Kaillie Armbruster Humphries came from behind to beat out Lisa Buckwitz to win gold in Sigulda.
Adele Nicoll and Kya Placide were the first team off the top, and Nicoll had an outstanding drive to put down a time that would hold until Buckwitz’s first effort.
Buckwitz and Lauryn Siebert edged out the Brits by .04 to take the lead, and three sleds later Armbruster Humphries and Emily Renna slid into second, just .02 back in Renna’s first start of the season.
In the second heat, Germany’s Laura Nolte and Leonie Kluwig took the lead from USA’s Elana Meyers Taylor and Jadin O’Brien, and then held it was Nicoll couldn’t match her first run effort and fell down the leaderboard.
Armbruster Humphries was next. On the hunt for her first career gold medal in Sigulda, the American put down a clean and quick second run to take the lead from Nolte with only Buckwitz to go.
Buckwitz and Siebert matched their first heat 5.18 start record, and Buckwtiz early on looked to be on her way to gold. But a big skid out of Curve 13 set the German back and she was unable to rally as Armbruster Humphries took gold, with Buckwtiz just .01 ahead of Nolte for silver.
The gold medal was the 31st in Armbruster Humprhies’ two-woman career, but first in Sigulda and first anywhere since January of 2023 (Altenberg). Brakewoman Emily Renna’s gold was her first.
Meyers Taylor finished fourth, only .02 out of the medals for her best finish of the season. Melanie Hasler and Nadja Pasternack were fifth, up from sixth in the first heat, while Kim Kalicki and Anabel Galander moved up from ninth to sixth with the quickest run of the second heat.
Kaysha Love and Sadie McMullen were 13th in the third American sled, two spots behind Nicoll, who slid to 11th.
Cynthia Appiah and Niamh Haughey led the way for Canada with aninth place finish. Melissa Lotholz and Eden Wilson moved up from 14th to finish 12th, while Kristen Bujnowski and Charlotte Ross were 15th.
With three races remaining in the 2025/2026 two-woman bobsled season, Laura Nolte holds a 74 point lead over Kaillie Armbruster Humphries, with Kim Kalicki, Lisa Buckwitz, and Kaysha Love all in contention for a top three finish.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Armbruster Humphries / Renna | USA | 11 | 5.34 | 5.34 | 51.46 | 51.34 | 1:42.80 |
| 2 | Buckwitz / Siebert | GER | 8 | 5.18 | 5.18 | 51.44 | 51.63 | 1:43.07 |
| 3 | Nolte / Kluwig | GER | 6 | 5.26 | 5.20 | 51.49 | 51.59 | 1:43.08 |
| 4 | Meyers Taylor / O’Brien | USA | 5 | 5.31 | 5.30 | 51.58 | 51.52 | 1:43.10 |
| 5 | Hasler / Pasternack | SUI | 7 | 5.26 | 5.23 | 51.63 | 51.51 | 1:43.14 |
| 6 | Kalicki / Galander | GER | 9 | 5.36 | 5.36 | 51.86 | 51.34 | 1:43.20 |
| 7 | Blatty / Von Jackowski | SUI | 4 | 5.39 | 5.34 | 51.88 | 51.52 | 1:43.40 |
| 8 | Huai / Wang | CHN | 3 | 5.33 | 5.34 | 51.71 | 51.74 | 1:43.45 |
| 9 | Appiah / Haughey | CAN | 16 | 5.39 | 5.35 | 62.14 | 51.43 | 1:43.57 |
| 10 | Beierl / Pichler | AUT | 10 | 5.34 | 5.35 | 51.67 | 51.95 | 1:43.62 |
| 11 | Nicoll / Placide | GBR | 1 | 5.41 | 5.44 | 51.48 | 62.15 | 1:43.63 |
| 12 | Lotholz / Wilson | CAN | 12 | 5.37 | 5.39 | 62.17 | 51.62 | 1:43.79 |
| 13 | Love / McMullen | USA | 13 | 5.34 | 5.36 | 62.03 | 51.81 | 1:43.84 |
| 14 | Boch / Senechal | FRA | 14 | 5.45 | 5.44 | 62.12 | 51.75 | 1:43.87 |
| 15 | Bujnowski / Ross | CAN | 15 | 5.35 | 5.36 | 62.22 | 51.86 | 1:44.08 |
| 16 | Cernanska / Mokrasova | SVK | 19 | 5.58 | 5.54 | 62.46 | 51.66 | 1:44.12 |
| 17 | Ying / Wang | CHN | 17 | 5.41 | 5.44 | 62.43 | 51.94 | 1:44.37 |
| 18 | Kotane / Berziņa | LAT | 18 | 5.66 | 5.65 | 63.61 | 62.50 | 1:46.11 |