A bobsleigh phenom who won 2 Olympic gold medals for Canada won her 3rd just months after becoming a US citizen

• Team USA's Kaillie Humphries won gold in the women's monobob in Beijing on Monday.
• The Canada-born athlete's victory comes just two months after she was granted her US citizenship.

Team USA's Kaillie Humphries produced a dominant performance to win gold in the women's monobob at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Monday.

The 36-year-old's victory comes just two months after she was granted US citizenship that would allow her to compete for the USA at the games.

She had previously competed for Canada, winning Olympic gold medals at Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014.

Humphries finished Monday's event — which is brand new to the Olympics — with a four-run combined time of 4:19:27. She finished 1.54 seconds clear of teammate Elana Meyers Taylor in second. Canada's Christine de Bruin took bronze.

With victory, she became only the second athlete in Winter Olympic history to win a title for two different countries, joining short track speed skater Victor An.

"This will always hold a special place in my heart, my first for the USA," she said.

Born in Calgary, Alberta, Humphries spent the majority of her bobsled career competing for Canada.

Humphries dominated the two-woman bobsleigh event for several years, winning two Olympic golds with partner Heather Moyse at Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014. She also took home World Championship gold medals in 2012 and 2013 while competing for Canada.

In 2018, however, she filed a harassment complaint against Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton (BCS) head coach Todd Hays, claiming he had mentally and verbally abused her.

Humphries also launched complaints against high performance director Chris Le Bihan and president Sarah Storey, who she said "failed to take appropriate action in respect of Mr Hays' conduct," according to a 2021 filing.

She petitioned to be freed from the Canadian team so she could compete for the USA.

"I need to be the best athlete I can be and go where it's safe and where I have an opportunity to continue my career" she said in an interview with CBC Sports. "And unfortunately, that is not with Bobsleigh Canada anymore."

An initial investigation found there was insufficient evidence to support Humphries claims against Hays, who has consistently denied the allegations, reports The Guardian.

However, an arbitrator subsequently found the initial probe was not "thorough nor reasonable" and the matter remains under investigation.

Humphries left the Canadian team in September 2019, shortly after which she began competing for the USA.

"This one does feel more emotional for me," she said after winning gold on Monday.

"Although each Olympic journey has been different, I've had to choose to walk away from my original birth nation. I've had to fight. There have been a lot of people that have tried to stand in my way. And there have been a lot of obstacles to get to this point.

"And so to know that everybody that supported me and that all the work that I put in has amounted to being the best year, it's very heartwarming to say the least.

"It hits the heartstrings a little bit more to know that I chose a nation and it chose me back and that we could do this together as a team."

Meyers Taylor's silver was her fourth Olympic medal, having already won silvers at both Pyeongchang 2018 and Sochi 2014, as well as bronze at Vancouver 2010.

Only five US Olympians have won more medals at the Winter Games than Meyers Taylor's four – Apolo Ohno, Bonnie Blair, Bode Miller, Eric Heiden, and Chad Hedrick.

"I wanted to cry, I wanted to scream, I wanted to laugh - all the emotions just came out," said Meyers Taylor, who was only released from isolation last week after testing positive for COVID-19 upon her arrival in Beijing.

"This feels like more than gold, I am happy to the moon with this medal. At one point, I was just trying to make it to the race, so to be here now and a silver medalist, it feels so amazing."