From Altenberg, GER
(December 4, 2021) – There are a lot of things that usually happen during a race week for bobsled pilots: They’ll take six practice runs between their two sleds, do some sled prep work, and usually get some rest.
Kaillie Humphries mixed in an intercontinental flight and becoming a United States citizen on top of all of that, and then came back to Altenberg to win a gold medal in the women’s monobob event.
Prior to Saturday’s race, Humphries flew to San Diego where she was sworn in as an American citizen, making her eligible to compete in the Olympics for the United States. She then hopped back on a plane and flew back to Germany to race in Altenberg. Once there she came from behind to win monobob gold, her first of the season.
In the first heat Canada’s Cynthia Appiah took a lead of .09 over Humphries on the strength of a heat-best push. Humphries rallied on the second run with a near-flawless trip down the track where she won a monobob world championship one season ago. Appiah was quick on her run on the strength of a race-best push, but a few bumps on her run dropped her behind Humphries at the finish.
The gold for Humphries was her first of the season, while the silver for Appiah was a career-best as a pilot at the World Cup level.
Germany’s Laura Nolte came into the second heat tied with Canada’s Christine de Bruin. Nolte had the stronger pushes of the two women, and in the end her .13 advantage off the top is what gave her the bronze medal, while de Bruin finished fourth.
Russia’s Nadezhda Sergeeva moved up from seventh to finish fifth.
Elana Meyers Taylor had a bumpy first run, but cleaned it up on the second trip down. She was able to move up from ninth in the first heat to sixth in the second run.
Canada’s Melissa Lotholz had a medal-contending run going in her second heat until crashing out of Curve 9. While she was able to get the sled righted to finish her run, she fell to 18th from fifth in the first heat.
Ashleigh Werner had the save of the competition, as she nearly flipped her sled out of Curve 9. She kept the sled upright enough, but slide the straight after Curve 9 on two runners all the way until the Kreisel curve. With that move, she moved up from 18th to 17th in the second heat.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Kaillie Humphries | USA | 5 | 6.28 | 6.26 | 60.23 | 60.34 | 2:00.57 |
| 2 | Cynthia Appiah | CAN | 10 | 6.04 | 6.01 | 60.14 | 60.49 | 2:00.63 |
| 3 | Laura Nolte | GER | 11 | 6.17 | 6.15 | 60.46 | 60.64 | 2:01.10 |
| 4 | Christine de Bruin | CAN | 13 | 6.28 | 6.28 | 60.46 | 60.71 | 2:01.17 |
| 5 | Nadezhda Sergeeva | RUS | 4 | 6.14 | 6.12 | 60.70 | 60.85 | 2:01.55 |
| 6 | Elana Meyers Taylor | USA | 8 | 6.05 | 6.07 | 60.95 | 60.92 | 2:01.87 |
| 7 | Andreea Grecu | ROU | 14 | 6.18 | 6.21 | 60.84 | 61.07 | 2:01.91 |
| 8 | Melanie Hasler | SUI | 7 | 6.20 | 6.22 | 61.40 | 60.90 | 2:02.30 |
| 9 | Martina Fontanive | SUI | 18 | 6.42 | 6.43 | 61.22 | 61.74 | 2:02.96 |
| 10 | Katrin Beierl | AUT | 3 | 6.40 | 6.36 | 61.60 | 61.46 | 2:03.06 |
| 11 | Qing Ying | CHN | 17 | 6.28 | 6.25 | 61.61 | 61.49 | 2:03.10 |
| 12 | Kim Kalicki | GER | 6 | 6.33 | 6.32 | 60.56 | 62.56 | 2:03.12 |
| 13 | Mariama Jamanka | GER | 12 | 6.33 | 6.34 | 61.07 | 62.12 | 2:03.19 |
| 14 | Mingming Huai | CHN | 15 | 6.31 | 6.29 | 61.69 | 62.11 | 2:03.80 |
| 15 | Anastasiia Makarova | RUS | 16 | 6.46 | 6.41 | 61.58 | 62.48 | 2:04.06 |
| 16 | Lubov Chernykh | RUS | 1 | 6.34 | 6.37 | 61.80 | 62.39 | 2:04.19 |
| 17 | Ashleigh Werner | AUS | 2 | 6.49 | 6.37 | 61.84 | 62.99 | 2:04.83 |
| 18 | Melissa Lotholz | CAN | 9 | 6.23 | 6.21 | 60.50 | 66.03 | 2:06.53 |
| 19 | Giada Andreutti | ITA | 19 | 6.63 | 6.69 | 67.20 | 61.73 | 2:08.93 |
