Winter Olympics 2018: Canada's Humphries, George take bronze in women's bobsleigh

Kaylee Pofahl

Winter Olympics 2018: Canada's Humphries, George take bronze in women's bobsleigh image

The third run changed everything for Kaillie Humphries and Phylicia George in the Winter Olympic bobsleigh final. 

The pair was four-one-hundreths of a second behind a podium finish after their first two runs, but moved into position to take bronze after their third run gave them a 0.05 edge over the fourth place sleigh. 

Holding their lead, Humphries and George added Canada's 21st medal at PyeongChang.

For Humphries, the bronze finish makes her the first Canadian bobsledder to win three Olympic medals. The Alberta native came to PyeongChang as the two-time defending Olympic champion after winning gold in both Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014.

“Each time I’ve been able to come to the Olympics and compete for Canada is a huge honor but to know that six months ago Phylicia came in…We’ve worked extremely hard to be in this position (and) the competition was stiff,” Humphries said.

“This is probably my most emotional medal, how hard we’ve worked, how much went into this medal and how much it means – and how great a person Phylicia is.”

Making her Winter games debut in PyeongChang, the bronze marks George's first Olympic medal. She competed as a track and field athlete in the 100m hurdles at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Summer Games but did not medal. After starting bobsleigh training last summer, the Markham, Ontario native competed in her first international race last November.

Humphries and George won gold and silver together at the World Cup in January.

Germany's Mariama Jamanka and Lisa Buckwitz won gold in the PyeongChang bobsleigh final, with Elana Meyers Taylor and Lauren Gibbs of the United States taking silver. 

 

Kaylee Pofahl