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Kaillie Humphries

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Kaillie Humphries
Kaillie Humphries in Altenberg (2020)
Personal information
NationalityCanadian, American
Born (1985-09-04) September 4, 1985 (age 39)[1]
Calgary, Alberta
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[1]
Weight76 kg (168 lb)[1]
Sport
CountryUnited States
SportBobsleigh
EventTwo-women
Coached byStefan Bosch
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Medal record
Representing  Canada
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2010 Vancouver Two-woman
Gold medal – first place 2014 Sochi Two-woman
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Pyeongchang Two-woman
Gold medal – first place 2022 Beijing Monobob
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2012 Lake Placid Two-woman
Gold medal – first place 2013 St. Moritz Two-woman
Silver medal – second place 2008 Altenberg Mixed team
Silver medal – second place 2016 Igls Two-woman
Silver medal – second place 2017 Königssee Two-woman
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Königssee Two-woman
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Königssee Mixed team
Bronze medal – third place 2012 Lake Placid Mixed team
Bronze medal – third place 2013 St. Moritz Mixed team
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Winterberg Mixed team
Representing the  United States
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2020 Altenberg Two-woman
Gold medal – first place 2021 Altenberg Two-woman
Gold medal – first place 2021 Altenberg Monobob

Kaillie Humphries (born Kaillie Simundson, September 4, 1985) is a Canadian-American bobsledder. Representing Canada, she was the 2010 and 2014 Olympic champion in the two-woman bobsled and the 2018 Olympic bronze medalist with brakewoman Phylicia George. With her victory in 2014, she became the first female bobsledder to defend her Olympic title and was named flagbearer for the Olympic closing ceremony with brakewoman Heather Moyse.

Humphries was one of the first women, along with American Elana Meyers, to pilot a mixed-gender team in a four-person bobsled competition.[2] She was also the first woman to drive an all-female team against men in a four-person World Cup bobsled race.[3][4]

In 2019, Humphries switched to representing the United States because of abuse and harassment that she claims she faced from the Canadian bobsled federation. She won three IBSF World Championship medals for Team USA in the 2020 and 2021 seasons, making her a five-time world champion and the most decorated woman in bobsled history. She also swept the two-woman and monobob events at the 2021 IBSF World Championships, making her the first female bobsledder to win a double world title.

Humphries was named to the U.S. bobsledding team for the Beijing Winter Olympics in February 2022, two months after she became a naturalized United States citizen.

Early years

Humphries competed in alpine skiing until the age of 16, when she retired from the sport after breaking both legs in separate crashes.[5] In 2002, she began her bobsled career as a brakewoman and was an alternate to the Canadian team at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino.[6]

Bobsled career

Humphries was initially low on the Canadian depth chart and considered representing the United Kingdom, the country of her then-fiancé, Dan Humphries, in order to compete at the 2006 Olympics. Opting to remain with the Canadian team, she gained a spot on the roster after signing up for a bobsled driving school.[7]

She won the silver medal in the mixed bobsled-skeleton team event at the 2008 FIBT World Championships in Altenberg, Germany. Following a seventh-place finish in the 2008–09 Bobsleigh World Cup series, she finished second overall in the 2009-10 series with one win, two other podium finishes, and never less than a top-six finish (in a field of 20) over eight races.[8]

At the 2010 Winter Olympics, Humphries won the gold medal in the two-woman competition with brakewoman Heather Moyse. The silver medal was won by fellow Canadians Shelley-Ann Brown and Helen Upperton.[9] After the final run, Humphries said: "I don't think I can put it into words yet. We did our job, you know. The goal I set as a little kid, to have done it is amazing."[7]

After the 2010 Olympics, Humphries met with less success for nearly two seasons. She finished on the podium only once during the 2010–11 World Cup series, though her consistent top-10 finishes allowed her to finish in third place overall. She slid to fifth place overall in the 2011–12 World Cup series, though she did have four podium finishes, including three gold medals.

Humphries teamed up with brakewoman Emily Baadsvik and then brakewoman Jennifer Ciochetti for consecutive wins in the last two races of the 2011–12 World Cup. Humphries and Ciochetti also won the 2012 World Championship race in Lake Placid, marking the first gold for a Canadian women's bobsled team at the World Championships. When asked what the result meant on top of her Olympic gold, she said: "It feels amazing. It is another goal accomplished. This means a lot to me. I feel like I'm still growing as a pilot, and I try to learn from every experience. I have been working on my consistency and I'm glad it showed here."[10] In the team event, Humphries helped guide the Canadians to a bronze medal.[11]

These three gold medals started a winning streak that would eventually break records for woman's bobsled competition.[12]

Competitiveness

Humphries, with new brakewoman Chelsea Valois, was the dominant pilot during the 2012–13 Bobsleigh World Cup season. The pair finished on the podium in all nine races that season, including a historic five straight wins from the start of the season.[12] They won the overall season championship with a record 1,960 points on six gold, one silver and two bronze medal finishes.

Humphries' success in the winter of 2012–13 included a repeat as world champion while setting a track record at the 2013 FIBT World Championship race in St. Moritz.[13] She finished on the podium in all 10 FIBT races during the 2012–13 season, and extended her consecutive FIBT podium finishes to 13 when counting the last two races of the 2011–12 World Cup season plus the 2012 FIBT World Championship race.[12] This streak included a run of eight consecutive wins from the end of 2011–12 through the start of 2012–13, while teamed with three different brakewomen (Baadsvik for one win, Ciochetti for two wins, and Valois for the rest).[14]

The 2013–14 World Cup season saw Humphries reunited with her Vancouver 2010 teammate, Heather Moyse. Humphries extended her podium streak to 15 with a win in the first race of the season and a silver in the second race—an unbroken run of 11 gold medals, 2 silver medals, and 2 bronze medals from the end of 2011–12 through the start of 2013–14. She traded podium positions with the American team of pilot Elana Meyers and brakewoman Lauryn Williams throughout the 2013–14 season and ultimately won her second consecutive World Cup season title.

The close contest between the Canadians and Americans carried into the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Meyers and Williams led by just over two-tenths of a second after Day 1 of competition—uncharacteristically beating Humphries and Moyse at their strong suit, start times, though Humphries made fewer driving errors and produced cleaner runs. On the second day of competition, the Americans again won on starting pushes but made several driving errors on the technical course. Humphries' clean piloting propelled the Canadians from second place into the gold medal position, making them the first female bobsled team to repeat as Olympic champions and the first female Canadian Olympians to repeat as champions since speed skater Catriona Le May Doan. Humphries said of the achievement: "How do you describe achieving a dream? This is a four-year goal of ours. This has been something that we've done together. Winning gold is amazing, but walking away satisfied is better. After the third run, I knew that if we did the business we could be on top."[15][16]

Humphries received the 2014 Lou Marsh Award, given annually to Canada's top athlete.[17]

Mixed-gender competitions

After the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing announced that it would allow mixed-gender crews to compete in four-man bobsled, Humphries piloted a mixed-gender team to the bronze medal in the Canadian four-man bobsled championships on November 1, 2014, allowing her team to join crews led by Justin Kripps and Chris Spring as official Canadian entries on the international circuit.[18][19]

On November 15, Humphries and Elana Meyers of the United States became the first women to compete with or against men in an international four-man bobsled competition, in the season-opening North American Cup race in Park City, Utah.[2] Humphries piloted her mixed-gender sled to a sixth-place finish, while Meyers piloted hers to seventh.[2][20][21] Later the same month, Humphries and Meyers became the first women to win medals in international four-man bobsled competition when they finished second and third in a North American Cup race at the Calgary track.[22]

On January 9, 2016, Humphries became the first woman to drive an all-female team against men in a four-person World Cup bobsled race; her teammates were Cynthia Appiah, Geneviève Thibault, and Melissa Lotholz.[3][4] Although they finished last, Humphries said the purpose was to help get a four-woman bobsled division added to the Olympics.[3] She said she knew their entry would not be a contender due to the 300-pound weight difference between her team and the all-men teams.[4]

In 2018, Humphries filed harassment complaints against Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton (BCS) head coach Todd Hays, high performance director Chris Le Bihan, and president Sarah Storey. She petitioned to be freed from the Canadian team—as required by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, though she had no contractual obligations to BCS—in order to compete for the United States. BCS refused to release her for competitive reasons, which led to a lawsuit and a filing with the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada (SDRCC).[23]

An independent investigation by Hill Advisory Inc., which was hired by BCS, concluded in September 2019 that there was not enough evidence to convict Hays, Le Bihan, or Storey.[24] During the investigation, in response to a request from BCS, Humphries submitted a list of conditions under which she would be willing to continue competing for Canada. Her conditions would have cost the federation tens of thousands of dollars, including retroactive carding money that had been pulled two months after she filed her initial harassment claim; an additional full-time pilot coach; a part-time push coach, to become full-time in an Olympic year; an additional therapist; and a replacement high performance director through the Canadian Sport Institute Calgary to prevent further contact with Hays, Le Bihan and Storey. BCS refused the conditions after months of deliberation.[25]

In September 2019, BCS granted Humphries' request to be released from the Canadian program, and she began to compete for the United States.[26]

On July 15, 2021, Humphries received a decision from an SDRCC arbitrator, Robert P. Armstrong, with respect to her appeal of the investigation conducted by Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton. Armstrong rejected the Hill investigation and instead ordered an independent investigation through the SDRCC. He concluded “that the investigation of Mr. Hill was neither thorough nor reasonable. As a result the decision of the board of BCS to accept the report cannot stand. ... Mr. Hill simply makes conclusive statements without any sufficient analysis to support his conclusion."[27]

Personal

Humphries was married to Dan Humphries, a former bobsledder who competed for Great Britain and Canada.[28] The pair divorced before the 2014 Olympics.[29]

In September 2019, she married American former bobsledder Travis Armbruster in California.[30]

Activism

Humphries is affiliated with the "I've Been Bullied" campaign; Right to Play, a sports program for underprivileged youth; and the Special Olympics. In April 2011, through Right to Play, she and Canadian gymnast Kyle Shewfelt traveled to Liberia to set up sports programs for underprivileged children. She has also spoken at elementary schools in Calgary about the importance of physical activity, setting goals, and avoiding drugs.[31]

Career highlights

Olympic Winter Games
2006 – Turin, Alternate – Push Athlete, Did Not Compete
2010 – Vancouver, 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st with Heather Moyse
2014 – Sochi, 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st with Heather Moyse
2018 – PyeongChang, 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd with Phylicia George
FIBT (IBSF) World Cup Overall Season Championship
Third, 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) overall in the 2009–10 FIBT World Cup season
Third, 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) overall in the 2010–11 FIBT World Cup season
Second, 2nd place, silver medalist(s) overall in the 2014–15 FIBT World Cup season
First, 1st place, gold medalist(s) overall in the 2012–13 FIBT World Cup season
First, 1st place, gold medalist(s) overall in the 2013–14 FIBT World Cup season
First, 1st place, gold medalist(s) overall in the 2015–16 FIBT World Cup season
World Championships
2008 – Altenberg, 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 2nd with Combined Team Event
2011 – Winterberg, 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd with Heather Moyse
2011 – Winterberg, 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd with Combined Team Event
2012 – Lake Placid, 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st with Jennifer Ciochetti
2012 – Lake Placid, 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd with Combined Team Event
2013 – St. Moritz, 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st with Chelsea Valois
2013 – St. Moritz, 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd with Combined Team Event
2016 – Igls, 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 2nd with Melissa Lotholz,
2017 – Königssee, 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 2nd with Melissa Lotholz
World Cup Single Events
2007/2008 – Lake Placid, 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd with Heather Moyse
2008/2009 – Whistler, 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 2nd with Heather Moyse
2008/2009 – Park City, 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 2nd with Shelley-Ann Brown
2009/2010 – Lake Placid, 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd with Combined Team Event
2009/2010 – Lake Placid, 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd with Heather Moyse
2009/2010 – Igls, 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd with Heather Moyse
2009/2010 – Königsee, 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 2nd with Heather Moyse
2009/2010 – Altenberg, 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st with Heather Moyse
2010/2011 – Whistler, 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd with Heather Moyse
2011/2012 – Königsee, 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd with Combined Team Event
2011/2012 – Königsee, 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 2nd with Emily Baadsvik
2011/2012 – La Plagne, 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st with Emily Baadsvik
2011/2012 – Whistler, 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st with Emily Baadsvik
2011/2012 – Calgary, 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st with Jennifer Ciochetti
2012/2013 – Lake Placid, 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st with Chelsea Valois
2012/2013 – Park City, 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st with Chelsea Valois
2012/2013 – Whistler, 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st with Chelsea Valois
2012/2013 – Winterberg, 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st with Chelsea Valois
2012/2013 – La Plagne, 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st with Chelsea Valois
2012/2013 – Altenberg, 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd with Chelsea Valois
2012/2013 – Königsee, 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st with Chelsea Valois
2012/2013 – Igls, 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 2nd with Chelsea Valois
2012/2013 – Sochi, 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd with Chelsea Valois
2013/2014 – Calgary, 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st with Heather Moyse
2013/2014 – Park City, 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 2nd with Heather Moyse
2013/2014 – Lake Placid, 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st with Heather Moyse
2013/2014 – St. Moritz, 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st with Heather Moyse
2013/2014 – Königsee, 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd with Heather Moyse
2014/2015 – Calgary, 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd with Kate O'Brien
2014/2015 – Altenberg, 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd with Melissa Lotholz
2014/2015 – Lake Placid, 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd with Melissa Lotholz
2014/2015 – Sochi, 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 2nd with Melissa Lotholz
2015/2016 – Lake Placid, 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 2nd with Melissa Lotholz[32]
Europa Cup
2006/2007 – Europa Cup, 1st place, gold medalist(s) Champion
World Junior Championship
2006 – Silver Medalist, 2nd place, silver medalist(s)

[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d FIBT-Bobsleigh profile Archived February 20, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 27, 2013
  2. ^ a b c "Women Make 4-Man Bobsled History in Utah". The New York Times. November 16, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  3. ^ a b c "Humphries makes history, driving a 4-woman sled against men". The Wall Street Journal. Associated Press. January 9, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  4. ^ a b c Reynolds, Tim (January 9, 2016). "Kaillie Humphries 1st to drive 4-woman sled against male World Cup field". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  5. ^ Ewing, Lori (January 30, 2014). "Kaillie Humphries favoured to defend bobsled gold at Sochi Olympics". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  6. ^ "Kaillie Humphries".
  7. ^ a b Vick Hall (February 25, 2010). "Canada nabs gold, silver in bobsleigh". Canada.com. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
  8. ^ "Humphries, Moyse hit World Cup bobsleigh podium". CBC News. January 22, 2010. Retrieved January 22, 2010.
  9. ^ Rutherford, Kristina (February 24, 2010). "Canada finishes 1–2 in women's bobsleigh". CTV Olympics. Retrieved February 24, 2010.
  10. ^ "Canada's Humphries wins bobsleigh gold". CBC Sports. February 18, 2012.
  11. ^ Gary Kingston (February 19, 2012). "Gold, silver and bronze for Canada". The Vancouver Sun.
  12. ^ a b c "Kaillie Humphries clinches World Cup bobsled season title". CBC Sports. February 15, 2012. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  13. ^ Michael Camu (January 26, 2013). "Canada's Kaillie Humphries defends world bobsleigh title". CBC Sports. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  14. ^ "Calgary's Kaillie Humphries extends historic winning streak". CBC Sports. December 14, 2012.
  15. ^ Tony Care (February 19, 2014). "Kaillie Humphries, Heather Moyse win bobsled gold". CBC Sports. Archived from the original on February 20, 2014.
  16. ^ Leslie Young (February 19, 2014). "Canada wins gold in women's bobsled at Sochi Olympics". Global News. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  17. ^ "Bobsled pilot Kaillie Humphries wins the Lou Marsh award as Canada's top athlete". Winnipeg Free Press. December 11, 2014.
  18. ^ "Bobsleigh gives approval to mixed-gender teams". BBC Sport. September 25, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  19. ^ "Canadian Championships: Kaillie Humphries leads team to bronze". BBC Sport. November 3, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  20. ^ "Ranking Finder – North American Cup/Bobsleigh 4-Men – Humphries, Kallie". Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing. November 15, 2014. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  21. ^ "Ranking Finder – North American Cup/Bobsleigh 4-Men – Meyers Taylor, Elana". Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing. November 15, 2014. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  22. ^ Hope, Nick (November 24, 2014). "Meyers-Taylor and Humphries win historic bobsleigh medals". BBC. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
  23. ^ Press, The Canadian (September 12, 2019). "Kaillie Humphries is suing Bobsleigh Canada, plans to compete for USA - TSN.ca". TSN.
  24. ^ Dan Barnes: "Humphries' saga could get uglier" (Calgary Sun, September 18, 2019)
  25. ^ Barnes, op. cit.
  26. ^ "Kaillie Humphries released by Canada to bobsled for U.S." NBC Olympics. September 29, 2019. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  27. ^ "SDRCC File No. 19-0421" (PDF). August 31, 2021.
  28. ^ "Family matters a Humphries storyline". The Guardian. February 26, 2010. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
  29. ^ "Watching Kaillie Humphries win gold. Parents rejoice!". Canadian Living. February 20, 2014. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
  30. ^ @BobsledKaillie (September 23, 2019). "I have found the one that my heart & soul loves. #IDo #wedding #happilyeverarmbruster #Love" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  31. ^ "Kaillie Humphries (née Simundson), bobsledder (born 4 September 1985 in Calgary, AB). At the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Humphries won a gold medal for Canada in the two-woman bobsled competition with Heather Moyse of Summerside, PEI, becoming the first Canadian woman to pilot a Canadian bobsled team to victory at an Olympic Winter Games.". The Canadian Encyclopedia. October 16, 2013. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
  32. ^ "Kaillie Humphries, Melissa Lotholz win World Cup bobsled silver | CBC Sports".
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