Yangqing, China • Their white sled flashed like lightning down the track known as the Flying Snow Dragon as Kaillie Humphries and Kaysha Love tried to defy physics and injuries to catch the Germans who were leading the two-woman bobsled event at the Beijing Olympics.
The sled went fast, especially compared to the women’s post-race hug.
Love, a Herriman High graduate, and Humphries, a three-time gold medalist, took their time alongside the track after their fourth run at the National Sliding Center on Saturday, knowing it wasn’t enough to put them on the podium.
But while Love won’t have a medal hanging around her neck after her Olympic debut, she did contribute to one. That’s according to Humphries, who said she couldn’t have become the first athlete to win gold in monobob, a new Olympic sport, if it hadn’t been for Love’s support.
“Monobob is an individual sport in the physicality of it, in the pushing and driving, but you can’t do any of it alone,” Humphries said. “And just the reassurance that the equipment was fine, that I was OK, that everything was taken care of. I could rely on Kaysha for all of it, and I needed the team support more than anything. And so 100% I would not have achieved that or been able to physically show up and then mentally show up without having her as a teammate.”
Germany’s teams, which were leading after three heats, held fast to seize the top two spots. Team USA pilot Elana Meyers Taylor and her pusher, Sylvia Hoffman, secured the bronze.
Meyers Taylor now holds five medals, making her the most decorated Olympic bobsled racer in U.S. history. Humphries and she both surpassed the three total Olympic medals won by the late Steven Holcomb, a Park City native, when they finished 1-2 in the monobob.
Humphries and Love entered the two-woman race as medal favorites, but those expectations began to unravel before they even hit the track. Humphries said she injured herself while warming up before their first run Friday. She limped noticeably after her runs and wore a wrap around her right calf. They nonetheless finished seventh.
Love said she thanked Humphries during their long embrace.
“The experience she’s given me for these games has just been unmatched,” Love said. “Yes, it wasn’t the result that we wanted, but I just had an absolute blast pushing with her. She just made this Olympic debut one to remember.”
With Meyers Taylor’s success, as well as that of Erin Jackson in speed skating, these Olympics may well be remembered for the strides taken by Black women in a mostly white athletic showcase. Love said she’s proud to be a part of that.
“I don’t think it’s any elephant in the room that there’s not a lot of Black women in sports in general, let alone winter sports,” she said. “So to see all these black people, especially black women, just excelling in these sports and coming home with medals and representing not only our country and not only from but everybody is honestly inspiring.
“We just want to show girls that look like us that it is possible to be here, and pave ways for them to be here so it’s not going to be as difficult when it’s their time.”
Love and Humphries both said they hope to return for the 2026 Olympics in Milan-Cortina, Italy.