Kaillie Humphries (born Kaillie Simundson; September 4, 1985) is a Canadian-American

bobsledder Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...

. Representing Canada, she was the

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Olympic champion in the two-woman bobsled and the

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Olympic bronze medalist with brakewoman

Phylicia George Phylicia George (born November 16, 1987) is a Canadian Olympic track and field athlete and bobsledder. Career Hurdles George competed at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, South Korea reaching the final in the 100m hurdles. She went on to ...

. With her victory in 2014, she became the first female bobsledder to defend her Olympic title and was named

flagbearer A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a ...

for the Olympic closing ceremony with brakewoman

Heather Moyse Heather Moyse (born July 23, 1978) is a Canadian athlete and two-time Olympic gold medalist, representing Canada in international competition as a bobsledder, rugby union player, and track cyclist and competing at the Canadian intercollegiate le ...

. Humphries was one of the first women to pilot a mixed-gender team in a four-person bobsled competition. She was also the first woman to drive an all-female team against men in a four-person World Cup bobsled race. In 2019, Humphries switched to representing the United States because of alleged 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, and won gold in the monobob event. This gold medal win meant she was the first woman in Olympic history to win gold medals for two different nations (America and Canada), and the first person to win Olympic gold medals for America and Canada,

Early years

She was born in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

to parents Cheryl and Ray Simundson; he was a financial planner. At age 7, after handling the gold medal of an Olympic swimmer, she set a goal to win a gold medal herself. She took up ski racing and, at age 14, was named to the Canadian national development team. She attended the

National Sport School The National Sport School (NSS) is a public high school (secondary school) in Calgary, Alberta which teaches grades 9 through 12. In partnership with Winsport Canada, the school was created to support student athletes with Olympic potential. Dev ...

in Calgary. She competed in

alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

until the age of 16, when she retired from the sport after breaking both legs in separate crashes. In 2002, she began her bobsled career as a brakewoman and was an alternate to the Canadian team at the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...

in Torino.

Bobsled career

Humphries was initially low on the Canadian depth chart and considered representing the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, the country of her then-fiancé, Dan Humphries, 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. She won the silver medal in the mixed bobsled-

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside ...

team event at the 2008 FIBT World Championships in

Altenberg, Germany Altenberg () is a town in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district, in Saxony, Germany. Geography The town is situated in the Ore Mountains, 32 km south of Dresden, and 15 km northwest of Teplice, Czech Republic. The village of ...

. Following a seventh-place finish in the

2008–09 Bobsleigh World Cup The 2008–09 Bobsleigh World Cup was a multi race tournament over a season for bobsleigh. The season started on 24 November 2008 in Winterberg and ended on 14 February 2009 in Park City, Utah. The World Cup was organised by the FIBT who also run ...

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. At the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

, Humphries won the gold medal in the two-woman competition with brakewoman

. The silver medal was won by fellow Canadians

Shelley-Ann Brown Shelley-Ann Camille Brown (born March 15, 1980) is a former Canadian bobsledder who has competed since 2006. She was born in Scarborough, Ontario to Jamaican immigrant parents, and also raised in nearby Pickering, Ontario. Brown was recruited to ...

and

Helen Upperton Helen Lesley Upperton (born October 31, 1979) is a Canadian bobsledder who has competed since 2002. Upperton was born in Ahmadi, Kuwait as her parents involvement in the oil industry meant they traveled abroad. She holds dual citizenship of bot ...

. 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." 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 Jennifer Ciochetti (born December 2, 1984) is a Canadians, Canadian bobsledder who has competed since 2006. Ciochetti was a world champion in 2012 in the two-woman event and also won a bronze medal in the team event that year as well. Career Desp ...

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." In the team event, Humphries helped guide the Canadians to a bronze medal. These three gold medals started a winning streak that would eventually break records for woman's bobsled competition.

Competitiveness

Humphries, with new brakewoman

Chelsea Valois Chelsea Valois (born October 11, 1987) is a Canadian bobsledder who has competed since 2012. She currently acts as the brakewoman for Jennifer Ciochetti and formerly Kaillie Humphries. Valois began as a track athlete at the University of Regina ...

, was the dominant pilot during the

2012–13 Bobsleigh World Cup The 2012–13 Bobsleigh World Cup was a multi race competition over a season for bobsleigh. The season started on 9 November 2012 in Lake Placid, United States and ended on 17 February 2013 in Sochi, Russia. The World Cup is organised by the FIBT ...

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. 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. 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. 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). 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 Elana Meyers Taylor (born Elana Alessandra Meyers; October 10, 1984) is an American Olympic bobsledder and World Champion who has competed since 2007. Born in Oceanside, California, Meyers Taylor was raised in Douglasville, Georgia and is a gra ...

and brakewoman

Lauryn Williams Lauryn Williams (born September 11, 1983) is an American sprinter and bobsledder. She was the gold medalist in the 100 meter dash at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics and won silver medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics, 2007 World Champ ...

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 , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

. 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 Catriona Ann Le May Doan, (born December 23, 1970) is a retired Canadian speed skater and a double Olympic champion in the 500 m and served as the chef de mission for Team Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Career Speed skatin ...

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

Mixed-gender competitions

After the

Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF), originally known by the French name ''Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing'' (FIBT), is the international sports federation for bobsleigh and skeleton. It acts as ...

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 Justin Kripps (born January 6, 1987) is a Canadian bobsledder and an Olympic champion in two-man bobsleigh following his gold medal win at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Kripps won a silver medal in the two-man event at th ...

and

Chris Spring Christopher Spring (born 6 March 1984) is an Australian-Canadian 4 x Olympic bobsledder who has competed since 2008. At the 2010 Winter Olympics, he competed for Australia in the two-man event. He switched allegiance to Canada later in 2010 and ...

as official Canadian entries on the international circuit. On November 15, Humphries and

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 Park City is a city in Utah, United States. The vast majority is in Summit County, and it extends into Wasatch County. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and from Salt Lake City' ...

. Humphries piloted her mixed-gender sled to a sixth-place finish, while Meyers piloted hers to seventh. 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. 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 Melissa Lotholz (born December 2, 1992) is a Canadian bobsledder. In her rookie season, Lotholz pushed Kaillie Humphries to 3 World Cup medals. The following season the duo won 9 medals in as many races, including silver at World Championships, ...

. Although they finished last, Humphries said the purpose was to help get a four-woman bobsled division added to the Olympics. 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.

Legal actions and switch to US

In 2018, Humphries filed harassment complaints against

Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton (BCS) is the official federation for bobsleigh and skeleton in Canada. It serves as the Canadian representative for the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation and is part of the Canadian Olympic Committee. BCS i ...

(BCS) head coach

Todd Hays Todd Dennys Hays (born May 21, 1969) is a former American bobsledder who competed from 1994 to 2006. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he won the silver medal in the four-man event at Salt Lake City in 2002, breaking a 46-year medal drought fo ...

, 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 The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF), originally known by the French name ''Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing'' (FIBT), is the international sports federation for bobsleigh and skeleton. It acts as ...

, 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). An independent investigation by Hill Advisory Inc., which BCS hired, concluded in September 2019 that there was insufficient evidence to convict Hays, Le Bihan, or Storey. In September 2019, BCS granted Humphries' request to be released from the Canadian program, and she began to compete for the United States. 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." Humphries represented the United States at the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...

and won a gold medal in the

monobob Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...

event, and finished in seventh place in the two-woman event with brakewoman Kaysha Love. That gold medal win meant she was the first woman in Olympic history to win gold medals for two different nations (America and Canada), and the first person to win Olympic gold medals for America and Canada.

Personal

Humphries was married to Dan Humphries, a former bobsledder who competed for Great Britain and Canada. The pair divorced before the 2014 Olympics. In 2015, Humphries met American bobsledder Travis Armbruster, and they became partners in 2016. September 2019, she and Armbruster were married in California.

Activism

Humphries is affiliated with the "I've Been Bullied" campaign; Right to Play, a sports program for underprivileged youth; and the

Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 1 ...

. In April 2011, through Right to Play, she and Canadian gymnast

Kyle Shewfelt Kyle Keith Shewfelt (born May 6, 1982 in Calgary, Alberta) is a Canadian gymnast. His gold medal in the men's floor exercise competition at the 2004 Athens Olympics was the first-ever medal for a Canadian in an artistic gymnastics event and was ...

traveled to

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

to set up sports programs for underprivileged children. She has also spoken at elementary schools in

about the importance of physical activity, setting goals, and avoiding drugs.

Career highlights

;Olympic Winter Games :2006 –

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, Alternate – push athlete, did not compete :2010 –

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, 1st with

:2014 –

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

, 1st with

:2018 –

PyeongChang Pyeongchang (; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ; ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of Seou ...

, 3rd with

:2022 –

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, 1st in the monobob ;FIBT (IBSF) World Cup Overall Season Championship :Third, overall in the 2009–10 FIBT World Cup season :Third, overall in the 2010–11 FIBT World Cup season :Second, overall in the 2014–15 FIBT World Cup season :First, overall in the 2012–13 FIBT World Cup season :First, overall in the 2013–14 FIBT World Cup season :First, overall in the 2015–16 FIBT World Cup season ;World Championships: :2008 – Altenberg, 2nd with Combined Team Event :2011 –

Winterberg Winterberg ( Westphalian: ''Winnenmerg'') is a town in the Hochsauerland district of North Rhine-Westphalia, central Germany and a major winter sport resort of the Wintersport Arena Sauerland. Geography Winterberg is located in the middle of ...

, 3rd with

:2011 –

, 3rd with Combined Team Event :2012 – Lake Placid, 1st with

:2012 – Lake Placid, 3rd with Combined Team Event :2013 – St. Moritz, 1st with

:2013 – St. Moritz, 3rd with Combined Team Event :2016 –

Igls Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol and the fifth-largest city in Austria. On the River Inn, at its junction with the Wipp Valley, which provides access to the Brenner Pass to the south, it had a pop ...

, 2nd with

, :2017 –

Königssee The Königssee is a natural lake in the extreme southeast Berchtesgadener Land district of the German state of Bavaria, near the Austrian border. Most of the lake is within the Berchtesgaden National Park. Description Situated within the Berchte ...

, 2nd with

;World Cup Single Events: :2007/2008 – Lake Placid, 3rd with

:2008/2009 – Whistler, 2nd with

:2008/2009 –

Park City Park City may refer to: a city in Utah. Places * National Park City, London, England, UK; see parks and open spaces in London in the United States * Park City, Illinois * Park City, Kansas * Park City, Kentucky * Park City, Montana * Park City, ...

, 2nd with

:2009/2010 – Lake Placid, 3rd with Combined Team Event :2009/2010 – Lake Placid, 3rd with

:2009/2010 –

, 3rd with

:2009/2010 –

, 2nd with

:2009/2010 – Altenberg, 1st with

:2010/2011 – Whistler, 3rd with

:2011/2012 –

, 3rd with Combined Team Event :2011/2012 –

, 2nd with Emily Baadsvik :2011/2012 –

La Plagne La Plagne () is a French ski area in the alpine valley of the Tarentaise (Savoie). Since 2003, La Plagne and the neighbouring resort of Les Arcs form Paradiski's ski area. It is currently owned by Compagnie des Alpes. In 2014, La Plagne was ...

, 1st with Emily Baadsvik :2011/2012 – Whistler, 1st with Emily Baadsvik :2011/2012 –

, 1st with

:2012/2013 – Lake Placid, 1st with

:2012/2013 –

, 1st with

:2012/2013 – Whistler, 1st with

:2012/2013 –

, 1st with

:2012/2013 –

, 1st with

:2012/2013 – Altenberg, 3rd with

:2012/2013 –

, 1st with

:2012/2013 –

, 2nd with

:2012/2013 –

, 3rd with

:2013/2014 –

, 1st with

:2013/2014 –

, 2nd with

:2013/2014 – Lake Placid, 1st with

:2013/2014 – St. Moritz, 1st with

:2013/2014 –

, 3rd with

:2014/2015 –

, 3rd with Kate O'Brien :2014/2015 – Altenberg, 3rd with

:2014/2015 – Lake Placid, 3rd with

:2014/2015 –

, 2nd with

:2015/2016 – Lake Placid, 2nd with

;Europa Cup: :2006/2007 – Europa Cup, Champion ;World Junior Championship: :2006 – Silver medalist,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Humphries, Kaillie 1985 births Living people American female bobsledders Canadian female bobsledders Bobsledders at the 2010 Winter Olympics Bobsledders at the 2014 Winter Olympics Bobsledders at the 2018 Winter Olympics Bobsledders at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic bobsledders of Canada Olympic bobsledders of the United States Olympic gold medalists for Canada Olympic gold medalists for the United States in bobsleigh Olympic bronze medalists for Canada Olympic medalists in bobsleigh Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2018 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2022 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Calgary 21st-century American women