Humphries and George win women’s bobsleigh bronze
Kaillie Humphries has won her third straight Olympic bobsleigh medal, this time taking bronze with Phylicia George in PyeongChang.
Humphries and George had been in fifth place after the first two runs, but were just four-one hundredths of a second out of a podium position. They made up that ground in their third run, moving into third place with a cumulative time of 2:32.12. That gave them a buffer of 0.05 on fourth-placed Americans Jamie Greubel Poser and Aja Evans.
In the final run, Humphries steered the sled down the track in 50.77 seconds for a four-run total time of 3:22.89. That gave them the edge on Germany’s Stephanie Schneider and Annika Drazek, who had bumped Greubel Poser and Evans down a spot.
With just two sleds to go, Humphries and George were assured of a podium finish. They watched as Mariama Jamanka and Lisa Buckwitz won the gold in a tight battle with Americans Elana Meyers Taylor and Lauren Gibbs.
Team Canada’s Kaillie Humphries and Phylicia George celebrate their bronze medal in women’s bobsleigh at PyeongChang 2018 Photo: COC/Jason Ransom
Humphries came to PyeongChang as the two-time reigning Olympic champion. She is now the first Canadian bobsledder to win three Olympic medals. She and Meyers Taylor are the first female bobsledders to be triple Olympic medallists.
For George, it is her first Olympic medal and it comes in her Winter Olympic debut after she competed at two Summer Games in the 100m hurdles, making the final at both London 2012 and Rio 2016. She began bobsleigh training late last summer and competed in her first international race just this past November. She and Humphries won World Cup gold and silver together in January.
More to come.
