Kaillie Humphries has a big lead for the US in the midpoint of the Olympic monobob – Orange County Register

By TIM REYNOLDS

BEIJING – Usually at the midpoint of the Olympic women’s snowmobile race, the leaderboards are very close.

Not this.

Kaillie Humphries’ first Olympic day for the United States was a run, putting the Americans in complete control of the first women’s monobob race. She leads Canada’s Christine de Bruin – her former teammate – by 1.04 seconds, by far the biggest halftime lead in Olympic women’s sailing history.

“It’s not perfect,” Humphries said.

Other suggested rankings. Five previous women’s skiing competitions at the Olympics – all two-person events, unlike this new rider-only event – have seen the average lead go in front of the field 0.16 seconds on average. The biggest half-time break ever was 0.29 seconds.

That is, until Sunday. No one was within 0.30 seconds of Humphries in the first heat, no one was within 0.36 seconds of Humphries in the second heat. She will be back on track at the Yanqing Skating Center on Monday morning, knowing she will complete two runaways from her third gold medal of her career.

“You pretend today doesn’t exist and there’s a new race tomorrow,” Humphries said. “Easier said than done, I can promise you that. But at the end of the day, I practiced to do it. And I won, and I lost in this position. And tomorrow is a brand new day. … I must continue to do my best moving forward. ”

De Bruin’s time was 2:10.14.

“It’s been a consistent race,” said de Bruin. “Anything can happen.”

Laura Nolte of Germany came in third with a score of 2:10.32, and three-time Olympic medalist Elana Meyers Taylor of the US was right in the medal hunt – her time of 2:10.42 took her home. Wednesday.

“That’s a huge potential customer,” Nolte said of Humphries’ profits. “She’s the one who makes the fewest mistakes, or almost none.”

Except for one big mistake by someone, it looks like the four women are still on the mixed list for three medals. They will be decided on Monday morning in Beijing, Sunday night in the United States, shortly after the Super Bowl airs. The gap between Meyers Taylor and fifth-placed China’s Huai Mingming is almost half a second.

“I knew I could drive this track better,” said Meyers Taylor. “I’m really just going tomorrow to try and have some fun. I drive best when I’m having fun. And with all that’s going on, I’m not enjoying myself yet. So tomorrow, I’ll let it roll and see what happens.”

The Olympic experience has, so far, not gone as Meyers Taylor would have liked. She tested positive for COVID-19 and had to give up her role as US flag bearer for the opening ceremony. She was isolated and separated from her family. Her son, who turns 2 later this month, is by her side almost constantly; Their visits have been limited to just a few minutes a day, if so, in Beijing because of virus protocols.