Humphries Armbruster gets 1st World Cup bobsled win since becoming a mom, ends 20-race German streak

Kaillie Humphries Armbruster has won dozens of races in her bobsled career. The victory she got Sunday was like none of the others.

It was her first since she turned 40.

And it was her first since becoming a mother.

With the Milan Cortina Olympics less than two months away, Humphries Armbruster seems to be hitting her best form once again. She teamed with Emily Renna to win a World Cup two-woman race in Sigulda, Latvia, her first victory on the circuit since winning a monobob race on that same track on Feb. 18, 2023.

“Being back on top after three years feels great,” said Humphries Armbruster, who held her son Aulden — who was wearing a knit cap from Cortina, the site of the Olympic races in February — on the medal podium after the race. “This is my first win as a mom, and a first win ever for Emily. This is a special one for us both. I’m proud of how we performed at the start and down the track.”

It was the 31st World Cup two-woman win for Humphries Armbruster, the 35th World Cup gold overall when adding in monobob victories, and the 43rd of her career when counting Olympics and world championship races as well.

The victory by Humphries Armbruster also snapped a 20-race World Cup winning streak for Germany in the two-woman event, dating back to Jan. 22, 2023 in Altenberg — with Humphries Armbruster winning that day, too. She missed the following season to start her family, returning to the circuit in December 2024.

Sunday’s win gave Renna her first World Cup gold as a brakewoman and third World Cup medal overall; two of those three medals have come when she’s in the back of Humphries Armbruster’s sled.

“Today was a special win with it being Kaillie’s first win since becoming a mom and my first World Cup win ever,” Renna said. “I’m really proud of how we focused on what we could control and how we put a really great race together as a team.”

The U.S. women have a slew of momentum headed into the Christmas break. Humphries Armbruster is now second in the World Cup two-woman standings, reigning world monobob champion Kaysha Love has four medals in eight races this year and Elana Meyers Taylor — who won a pair of monobob races last season after turning 40 — finished fourth in both the two-woman and monobob races at Sigulda this weekend.

Germany grabbed silver and bronze on Sunday, with Lisa Buckwitz and Lauryn Siebert finishing second and Laura Nolte and Leonie Kluwig placing third. Nolte has medaled in all eight two-woman and monobob races this season, and she’s the leader in the World Cup standings in both disciplines.

Meyers Taylor teamed with Jadin O’Brien to finish fourth in the two-woman race Sunday. It was the World Cup debut for O’Brien, a three-time NCAA indoor pentathlon national champion at Notre Dame. O’Brien got in a bobsled for the first time less than three months ago.

Two-man

Sunday was the fourth two-man World Cup race of the season. It was the fourth German sweep in that event.

Johannes Lochner got back atop the medal stand, beating Francesco Friedrich for the third time this season. Friedrich was second and Adam Ammour was third — his fourth bronze of the season.

Frank Del Duca teamed with Hunter Powell to finish sixth and lead the U.S. contingent.

Up next

Bobsled: World Cup monobob and two-man races on Jan. 3 at Winterberg, Germany.

Luge: World Cup men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles on Jan. 3 at Sigulda.

Skeleton: World Cup men’s, women’s and mixed team races on Jan. 2 at Winterberg.

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics