Utah’s Love pilots, Armbruster Humphries wins bronze, Meyers Taylor says Olympic goodbyes, in 2-Women Bobsled in Milan Cortina

Kaillie Armbruster Humphries and Jasmine Jones bending down after crossing the finish line in first place with only two sleds still to come down the bobsled track, to get a congratulatory hug from teammate Meyers Taylor whose holding one of her young sons. Photo: TownLift // Michele Roepke

CORTINA, Italy — The women’s two-woman bobsled competition wrapped at the Cortina Sliding Center with Germany claiming gold and silver, while the United States placed three sleds in the top seven and drew a strong showing of support from Utah.

Kaillie Armbruster Humphries of San Diego earned bronze with a four-run combined time of 3 minutes, 49.21 seconds, finishing 0.75 seconds behind the winning German sled. Another German team took silver.

Utah ties ran deep in the U.S. effort. Pilot Kaysha Love of Herriman and brakewoman Azaria Hill of California finished fifth in 3:49.71, 1.94 seconds off the winning pace. Love, a two-time Olympian competing as a pilot for the first time at the Games after previously serving as a brakewoman for Armbruster Humphries and Elana Meyers Taylor, credited the crowd support for lifting her performance.

“When I got out of the track and just saw all of my family, my friends, the Salt Lake 2034 people, it really made my heart so, so happy,” Love said in the finish area. “The support for the Winter Olympics and support for us is just unmatched.” She is widely viewed as a cornerstone of the next generation of the U.S. program.

Elana Meyers Taylor, competing with Jadin O’Brien of Massachusetts, finished seventh in 3:50.49, 2.03 seconds behind the leaders. Meyers Taylor had won gold in the monobob earlier in the week, adding to her status as the most decorated U.S. woman in Winter Olympic history and a member of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s Athlete Advisory Committee.

Holding one of her toddler sons in the finish area, Meyers Taylor reflected on the arc of her career.

“This seems fitting for my career, to have one gold medal and one seventh place at these Games, as I’ve had so many ups and downs in bobsledding,” she said through tears. “I’ve given my family and this sport everything I possibly could have. It’s been a good ride.”

The U.S. women’s team is coached by Park City’s Shauna Rohbock, a silver medalist in the event at the 2006 Turin Olympics with brakewoman and fellow Park City athlete Valerie Fleming.

President of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, of Italy, Ivo Ferriani, presented medals following the race. He deferred to athletes’ assessments of the track.

“It’s not up to me to say how the track is,” Ferriani said. “The athletes said the track is fantastic, the track is very safe, and the performances are challenging.”

Another Utahn, Cassie Revelli of Salt Lake City, was also at the sliding center, serving as an official for the IBSF.