Yanqing (China) (AFP) - Canadian-born Kaillie Humphries ended Germany's domination of the sliding sports at the Beijing Games on Monday with a storming victory for her adopted USA in the inaugural women's monobob event.
The 36-year-old was peerless at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre, building on her commanding overnight lead to clock four minutes, 19.27 seconds over the four heats.
Her winning margin of 1.54 seconds over her USA team-mate Elana Meyers Taylor, who took silver, is a huge gulf in a sport normally decided by tenths of a second.
Meyers Taylor, 37, wept when it was confirmed she would win a medal, having spent 10 days in isolation up until last Wednesday after testing positive for Covid.
She moved up from bronze ahead of Canada's Christine de Bruin, who finished at 1.76, with a superb final run.
Meyers Taylor then high-fived Humphries in the finish area as the winner stood up in her sled after powering over the line.
Women’s monobob, where each pilot races alone, made its Olympic debut at these Beijing Games.
Before Humphries' stunning display, German racers had won all of the previous six events in Yanqing, with a full house of four wins in luge and two in skeleton.
Humphries won Olympic golds for Canada in the two-woman bobsleigh at both the Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014 Games, as well as a bronze four years ago in Pyeongchang.
However, she was only sworn in as a United States citizen last December after switching to the US amid allegations she was verbally harassed by staff in the Canadian team.
She will bid for a second gold at these Beijing Games in the two-woman bobsleigh when the heats start Friday.
