Winter Olympics: Kaillie Humphries wins dominant monobob gold for USA

Kaillie Humphries dominated the field to win gold for the USA in the women's monobob at the Beijing Winter Games.

It is Canada-born Humphries' fourth Olympic medal but first for her adopted country, having only received American citizenship a few weeks' ago.

She was 1.54 seconds clear of team-mate Elana Meyers Taylor, with Canada's Christine de Bruin taking bronze.

Meyers Taylor was only released from isolation last week after a positive covid test on her arrival in Beijing.

As well as disrupting her preparations, it also meant she was separated from her two-year-old son, with the 37-year-old bursting into tears when it was confirmed she would win a medal.

«I wanted to cry, I wanted to scream, I wanted to laugh — all the emotions just came out,» said Meyers Taylor. «This feels like more than gold, I am happy to the moon with this medal.

»At one point, I was just trying to make it to the race, so to be here now and a silver medallist, it feels so amazing."

Humphries, 36, won gold for Canada in 2010 and 2014 and a bronze in 2018 but quit the national team three years ago after making allegations of abuse and harassment against a coach.

She represented the USA instead but needed citizenship in order to compete at the Olympics, which was only granted at the start of December.

«This will always hold a special place in my heart, my first for the USA,» said Humphries.