'Greatest in the history of the sport' - Greg Rutherford hails GOAT Kaillie Humphries after historic monobob gold
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Updated 14/02/2022 at 18:26 GMT
“We trained together in America, and I got to witness what it’s like to train with one of the greatest bobsledders of all time," Rutherford sang the praises of Humphries after the Canadian-American won her third Olympic gold in the inaugural monobob event. Watch every moment of Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on discovery+.
'She's a three-time Olympic champion' - Humphries secures another gold
Greg Rutherford has paid tribute to Kaillie Humphries, describing the Canadian-American bobsledder as ‘the greatest bobsledder in the history of the sport’.
Humphries racing for Team USA, became the first Olympic athlete to win gold in the bobsleigh monobob event following its introduction at the Beijing 2022 Winter Games.
It was the 30-year-old’s third Olympic gold having previously won golds in the two-woman event in 2010 and 2014 while representing Canada.
Rutherford, who attempted to compete in the bobsleigh for Team GB at the Games, revealed that it was Humphries who encouraged him to take up the sport, and praised her ‘incredible’ ability on the tracks.
“Kaillie Humphries is the reason I was doing bobsleigh,” said Rutherford. “She was the person who, for probably seven years, was badgering me to go and give it a go.
“We trained together in America, and I got to witness what it’s like to train with one of the greatest bobsledders of all time.
“When you watch her, fundamentally what she doesn’t do is hit walls very often. There’s always the tiny taps here and there, but she finds the optimum line on every course.
“You can see that emotion. This is her third Olympic title and it means as much as the first one.”
The Monobob was introduced to the Games for the first time this year and Rutherford explained how Humphries, who had historically competed in the two-person event, was able to adapt to the switch so smoothly.
“With monobob, you have to do everything. And what’s really interesting with bobsleigh is that generally all of the drivers at some point have also pushed, they’ve all been brakemen at some point.
“So from that point of view they understand all of those movements, they know what they need to do.”
Rutherford also hailed Humphries for overcoming the obstacle and complications of switching allegiances while trying to prepare for the Games.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2022/02/14/3317184-67823953-2560-1440.jpg)
'The scale of it is off the charts' Radzi and Greg on monobob and Humphries victory
In 2018, she filed harassment complaints against Bobsleigh Canada Skelton and was eventually allowed to elect to race for the US instead.
“Her journey has been fraught with question marks,” added Rutherford. “She was competing for Canada last time she was out there and that’s a big thing for her.
“We literally, two months ago, did not know if Kaillie Humphries would be allowed to compete in the Olympic Games. She was still transitioning from Canada to the United States.
“She had some real issues in Canada and it’s very sad for Canadian Bobsleigh as well that they’ve lost arguably the greatest of all time.
“We’re not just talking about a gold medal: Kaillie Humphries is probably the greatest driving bobsledder in the history of the sport, men’s and women’s.”
--
Watch every moment of Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on discovery+.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement