Monobob, Women

The monobob event for women was only held for the second time at the Olympic Winter Games. Three of the top four finishers from Beijing shared the medals among themselves in Cortina.

The silver medallist from Beijing 2022, 41-year-old Elana Meyers Taylor(USA), finally won her first Olympic gold medal after winning five medals over four Olympic Games since her debut in 2010, capturing four in two-woman (two silver, two bronze) and one in mono-bob (silver). Overall, between 2010 and 2026, she competed in six events, winning a medal in each one.

In 2026, Meyers Taylor was second after three runs, just 0.15 seconds behind the German Laura Nolte, who was fourth in the monobob and Olympic champion in the two-woman event at Beijing 2022, as well as monobob gold medallist at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games a decade earlier. However, Nolte‘s final run at Milano Cortina 2026 was only ninth fastest in the fourth heat, and she slipped behind Meyers Taylor by 4/100th of a second overall, settling for silver.

Bronze medallist Kaillie Humphries (USA) was just another 8/100th of a second behind Nolte. For Humphries, like for Meyers Taylor, it was her fifth Olympic Games appearance and also her fifth medal after three gold (2010 and 2014 for Canada, 2022 for USA) and one bronze previously, including the first monobob gold medal ever four years ago. The three were a class of their own, opening up a gap of 0.8 seconds to the fourth-placed German Lisa Buckwitz.

Meyers Taylor, at 41 years 129 days, and Humphries, at 40 years 165 days of age, became the oldest female medallists in Olympic bobsleigh history, with Meyers Taylor following Humphries as the oldest gold medallist. At 27 years 85 days, Nolte is the youngest medallist in the monobob, shedding some light on the long experience required to become a top bobsledder.

Even though the United States could not repeat their 1-2 finish from Beijing, it still won four of the six medals ever awarded in the monobob event.