Let’s hear it for moms Meyers Taylor, Humphries Armbruster, who produced an inspiring story in monobob
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Veteran sportswriter Richard Deitsch takes an international view of the Olympics.
Elana Meyers Taylor and Kaillie Humphries Armbruster, both in their 40s, both moms, both historic figures in their sport, were giving everything they had to take down Germany’s Laura Nolte in the women’s monobob in 2025.
“Mom power coming down from the U.S.” said CBC broadcaster Helen Upperton shortly before the Americans began their final heat.
You had the 27-year-old Nolte, the reigning World Cup overall monobob champion who represented the present and future of the event. You had Meyers Taylor, age 41, with five Olympic medals over five Olympics but no golds. You had the 40-year-old Humphries Armbruster, a three-time Olympic gold medallist and the defending Olympic champion.
The monobob is an intoxicating sport to watch, featuring snow daredevils piloting a long and aerodynamic sled on the ice of the Cortina Sliding Centre. Speeds can hit 126 kilometres per hour. The athletes train like sprinters and weightlifters, an incredible combination.
If you are a hardcore global Winter Olympics fan, you have likely heard of Meyers Taylor. What you may not know is both of her sons, Nico and Noah, have special needs. They are both deaf, and Nico also has Down syndrome. A prominent disability advocate, she is a human being worth admiring.
Nolte led throughout the four-heat competition, though Meyers Taylor had cut the German’s lead to just 0.15 seconds after the third run. Both Americans tied for the fastest third lap (59.08) but the expectation was Nolte was going to cement her legacy by winning her first Olympic gold.
Germany’s Laura Nolte was in first place through all three heats, until the fourth and final heat when she lost out to American Elana Meyers Taylor for the gold medal at Milano Cortina 2026.
It could not be more dramatic with the final three sliders. Humphries Armbruster put down the third-fastest final run to slide into a top 3 spot. Then came Meyers Taylor. Her lap time was 59.51, second-best of the heat. Still, it looked like it would be short.
The one thing we have learned in these Games is there is no such thing as the inevitable. Nolte blinked in her final heat. She struggled early in the course and when the clock popped up at the end of her run, it showed 59.70. The CBC broadcasters Mark Lee and Upperton added to the excitement with a great race call.
The final result:
Meyers Taylor: 3:57.93
Nolte: 3:57.97
Arnbruster Humphries: 3:58.05
It was Olympic medal No. 6 for Meyers Taylor — three silver, two bronze and now an incredible gold. She is now tied with Bonnie Blair for the most by a U.S. woman in the Winter Olympics. Humphries Armbruster’s fifth Olympic medal is second most all-time among female bobsledders, behind only Meyers Taylor.
What a race, the closest women’s bobsled finish in Olympic history.
Who will star on Tuesday
One of the signature events of any Winter Games — women’s figure skating — begins Tuesday at 12:45 p.m. ET. Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto is a three-time world champion and the bronze medallist from Beijing. She’s the betting favourite. The Americans will be very strong with current world champion Alysa Liu — the only woman to beat Sakamoto at a world championship since 2022 — and three-time U.S. champion Amber Glenn. The last American to medal in this event was Sasha Cohen, who won silver in Torino in 2006. Adeliia Petrosian is a three-time Russian champion and competing under the Individual Neutral Athlete (AIN) banner. How she does is the great unknown in the event.
Germany’s Johannes Lochner and Georg Fleischhauer have what looks like an insurmountable lead in the two-man bobsled (though if Ilia Malinin taught us anything during these Games, nothing is inevitable). The pair finished their two runs in one minute, 49.90 seconds, holding a massive 0.80 seconds. lead over Francesco Friedrich and Alexander Schuller (1:50.70). The third heat is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET at the Cortina Sliding Centre. The final run is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. ET. Friedrich is attempting to become the first five-time gold medallist in Olympic bobsled history. He won gold in the two- and four-man races at the 2018 PyeongChang Games and the 2022 Beijing Games. But Lochner has been the best in the two-man all year, with six wins in seven races.
Norway could be looking at yet another gold medal as Birk Ruud, who won a gold medal in slopestyle last Tuesday, goes for the top of the podium again in the freeski big air final at Livigno Snow Park. The American Mac Forehand and Matej Svancer of Austria are podium favourites as well. The final begins at 1:30 p.m. ET
Olympic imagery
Numbers to know
117 – Women’s hockey players in the Milano-Cortina Games who have NCAA hockey backgrounds, including every member of the Canadian and U.S. teams. (Hat tip: Rachel Axon of SBJ).
78 – Years between men’s slalom gold medals for Switzerland. Loic Meillard closed out the men’s alpine program at the Milano-Cortina Games on Monday with a two-run combined winning time of 1:53.61 seconds. He joins Edy Reinalter, who won a gold for Switzerland in the men’s slalom in 1948.
9 – Olympic medals for Japan speedskater Miho Takagi (two gold, four silver, three bronze) during her career. The 31-year-old Takagi will compete in the women’s team pursuit on Tuesday and the women’s 1,500 (she’s the favourite) on Friday.
1 – Pairs figure skating medal won by Japan in Olympic history. Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara captured the Olympic title on Monday with a final score of 231.24. The pair rebounded after Miura and Kihara finished fifth after the short program.
What we’re reading around the web
► Caroline Harvey is having a star-making run at the Olympics for U.S. women’s hockey. By Hailey Salvian of The Athletic
► African and Caribbean skiers unite at Olympics to call for more inclusion, support. By Marleen Kaesebier and Kurt Hall of Reuters
► Biathlon legends get reallocated Olympic medals in wake of Russian doping scandal. By Matthew Futterman of The Athletic.
► Longer careers open door for Olympians to combine sport and motherhood, says Italy’s Lollobrigida. By Giselda Vagnoni of Reuters
► IOC moves closer to reinstating Russia by LA28, but backlash may put its return on ice. By Kevin Baxter of L.A. Times.
► The Olympic journey of Laila Edwards, the first Black woman to play for the U.S. hockey team, has captivated her hometown, Cleveland Heights. By Alexandra E. Petri of The New York Times.
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