As the 2024 Olympics kick off, we are spotlighting world-class immigrant athletes who are or have competed for the U.S. National Team. Today, we spotlight the most decorated women’s bobsledder in history, Kaillie Humphries.
Born September 4, 1985, Kaillie Humphries grew up in Alberta, Canada. Her passion for sports initially focused on the slopes with Alpine skiing. At 16, Humphries discovered bobsledding; she trained as a sleigh pilot for just two weeks before suffering a severe collarbone injury in a crash. Following her recovery, she trained as a brakewoman, qualifying as an Olympic alternate in 2006. After the ’06 games, she resumed her previous training as a pilot, where she found her niche.
Humphries went on to compete as a pilot in the two-person bobsled for the Canadian National team, winning gold medals in both the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and the subsequent 2014 Sochi Games. After earning a bronze medal in the 2018 games in PyeongChang, Kaillie shocked the sports world, revealing that for years, she had faced mental and physical abuse perpetrated by one of her Canadian coaches. She filed a formal complaint later that year.
Following her disclosure of abuse, Humphries petitioned for removal from the Canadian team and applied for U.S. citizenship to continue to compete in the sport she loved while representing the U.S. After a tumultuous few months with little support, Humphries eventually passed her exams and was granted U.S. Citizenship in December 2021, just two months before the 2022 Olympic opening ceremony in Beijing. There, she would win another gold medal in the mono bob, proudly representing her new team and country.