Kelly Humphries Armbruster has won dozens of races in her bobsleigh career. The win they got on Sunday was not like other wins.
This was his first time after turning 40. And this was her first time after becoming a mother.
With less than two months to go until the Milan Cortina Olympics, Humphries Armbruster is once again looking in her best form. She teamed up with Emily Renna to win two World Cup women’s races in Sigulda, Latvia, their first win on the circuit since winning the monobob race at the same track on February 18, 2023.
“It feels great to be back on top after three years,” said Humphries Armbruster, who followed his son, Aulden – who was wearing a knitted hat from Cortina, the site of the Olympic race in February – onto the medal podium. “It’s my first win as a mom and it’s the first win for Emily, too. It’s special for both of us. I’m proud of how we performed early on and on the track.”
It was Humphreys Armbruster’s 31st women’s World Cup win in two, her 35th World Cup gold overall when including monobob wins, and the 43rd of her career when counting Olympic and World Championship races.
The win also broke a 20-race World Cup winning streak for Germany in the two-woman event, which took place in Altenberg on January 22, 2023 – Humphreys Armbruster also won that day. She missed the next season to start her family and returned to the circuit in December 2024.
Sunday’s victory gave Renna her first World Cup gold as a breakwoman and her third World Cup medal overall; Two of those three medals came while she was behind Humphreys Armbruster’s sled.
“Today was a special win, it was Kelly’s first win since becoming a mother and my first World Cup win,” said Renna. “I’m really proud of how we focused on what we could control and how we pulled together a really great race as a team.”
There is a lot of enthusiasm among American women about the Christmas holidays. Humphries Armbruster is now second in the two-woman standings at the World Cup, reigning world monoboob champion Kaysha Love has won four medals in eight races this year, and Alana 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 took silver and bronze on Sunday, with Lisa Buckwitz and Lauryn Siebert in second and Laura Nolte and Leonie Kluvig in third. Nolte has won medals in all eight two-woman and monobob races this season, and she leads the World Cup standings in both disciplines.
Meyers Taylor teamed up with Jadyn O’Brien to finish fourth in Sunday’s two-woman race. It was the World Cup debut for O’Brien, a three-time NCAA indoor pentathlon national champion at Notre Dame. O’Brien had been involved in bobsleigh for the first time less than three months earlier.
Johannes Lochner defeated Francesco Fredericki to top the medal table for the third time this season. Frederick finished second and Adam Ammor third – his fourth bronze of the season.
Frank Del Duca teamed up with Hunter Powell to finish sixth and lead the American contingent.
Luge: World Cup men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles on January 3 in Sigulda.
Skeleton: World Cup men’s, women’s and mixed team races on January 2 in Winterberg.
