KAILLIE HUMPHRIES
1985 -
Olympic Gold Medallist & Trailblazer in Women’s Sports
Calgary, Alberta

Kaillie Sigmundson was born on September 4th, 1985, in Calgary and raised amidst the rugged landscapes and vibrant sporting culture of Alberta, Canada. Kaillie stands as one of the most influential figures in the world of women’s elite sports. Renowned for her historic achievements in bobsleigh and her unwavering commitment to breaking barriers for women in elite sports. Humphries’ journey from the slopes of Calgary to Olympic podiums across continents embodies the resilience, courage, and the relentless pursuit of excellence characteristics of her Icelandic ancestors. Her story is not just about medals and victories—it is about changing the face of sport for women everywhere.

Early Years

At the tender age of 7 years, Kaillie proclaimed she would win an Olympic gold medal one day. The Sigmundson family was having Olympic swimmer Mark Tewksbury over for dinner, and he brought his recently won Gold medal for coming in first in the world for the 100-meter backstroke. Tewksbury let little Kaillie slip the striped ribbon with the shiny medal around her neck and Kaillie said, ‘I want one of these! The family indulgently smiled at their little girl’s wish, but as they realized she was determined to excel in sports, they supported her wholeheartedly. Kaillie took up skiing as her sport, and by the time Kaillie was a teenager, she was on the Canadian national development team training as a ski racer.

Kaillie is the daughter of Ray and Cheryl Sigmundson of Edmonton. Kaillie speaks in many of the interviews she does for media of the great support her family has given her in her journey towards Gold. While Kaillie is known for her fierce competitiveness and remarkable achievements, she is equally recognized for her collaborative spirit, compassion for teammates, and dedication to her family. Many of these qualities—courage, persistence, loyalty, and strength—echo the legendary figures of the Icelandic sagas, whose heroes were celebrated for their bravery, honour, and exceptional skills. Her father’s Icelandic lineage weaves a strong and meaningful thread through Kaillie’s identity, instilling in her an enduring sense of pride and connection to her ancestral homeland. The Sigmundson’s family’s closeness was further deepened by their shared values of hard work, loyalty, and integrity—traits embedded in both their daily lives and Icelandic culture at large.

Family support and an indominable spirit were called into play early in Kaillie’s life when she received her first, of several, ‘hard knocks’. At 15, Kaillie broke each of her legs while skiing, in separate crashes, requiring months of painful rehabilitation. She wasn’t able to go back to competitive skiing and also was left with a fear of speeding down the hill that she was determined to overcome. Kaillie had watched the movie, ‘Cool Runnings’, which was a popular comedy film loosely based on the true story of the Jamaican bobsled team’s debut at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. The movie was filmed on the track not far from the Sigmundson’s home. Kaillie was inspired to sign up for a try-out with the Bobsleigh Canada team. Her father had loaned her the money to buy a bobsled to practice on. Kaillie’s strength, determination and hard work shone through, and she successfully earned an invitation to begin training as a brakeman.

Kaillie is known for her tattoos. She has 60% of her body tattooed. When she began to travel widely for her competitions, her tattoos became a meaningful way for her to carry her family. On her Facebook page, Kaillie posted, “My tattoos remind me of who I am, when I start to feel my identity getting blurred in the thick of life. They root me when I start to lose myself. They’re about memorializing something so important it needs to be engraved on my skin.” A particularly special relationship in Kaillie’s life was with her Amma (grandmother), whose words of love and encouragement became a source of strength for Kaillie. She said that her Amma often expressed her affection in Icelandic phrases and she tattooed the phrase, “Af því að þú elskaðir mig” (“Because you loved me”), around her left ankle. She carries those words of love and encouragement in each step she takes. The whole family got tattoos when Kaillie made it to the Canadian national Olympic team.

A short four years after she began bobsledding, Kaillie Sigmundson was one of the youngest bob sleigh athletes at the 2006 Olympics in Torino, Italy. She walked in the opening and closing ceremonies, supported her teammates on race days but was not chosen to compete. She had sustained an injury the coach was concerned about, although she herself felt she had pushed through to recovery. After this disappointment, Kaillie was determined never to be side-lined again, so decided to train as a pilot in the bobsleigh, a key leading position in which a last-minute replacement is highly unlikely. Kaillie turned that disappointment into determination to succeed.

Bobsleighing

For those not familiar, bobsleigh is a team sport in which crews of either two or four race down a narrow, twisting, banked ice track in a gravity-powered sleigh, competing for the fastest times. It was a sport traditionally dominated by men. There were with limited opportunities for women and resources and recognition lagged far behind those available to men. Within a record-setting short number of years, Kaillie emerged as a leading pilot, forging strong partnerships and earning the respect of her peers. She was respected for her technical skill, strategic acumen, and leadership: She became an inspirational leader and was instrumental, along with the support of the coaches and Team Canada, in making her Bobsleigh team into podium contenders, and setting herself on a streak of record-breaking wins at World’s and Olympic events. It seemed that every time someone said to Kaillie, ‘It’s never been done before; it’s not possible’ was met with a ‘Really, watch me!’.

Olympic Gold

Even Kaillie’s first Olympic medal sets a historic record, as Kaillie fast-tracked her training and preparations. In 2007-08 she competed in the World Cup circuit, winning her first World Cup medal as a pilot in 2007. By the 2009-2010 World Series, she set six start records and two track records and earned four World Cup medals. After just six years of training, Kaillie Humphries struck Gold in the two-woman bobsled event at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Her victory established her as a leading athlete in the world. In 2012, she, along with brakewoman Jenny Ciochetti, became the first Canadian Female bobsledders to win world championship Gold. Then in 2012-13, Kaillie, with teammate Chelsea Valois, won the first five World Cup races, finishing off with the 2013 world championship gold, her second straight overall World Cup title. It was another Canadian first. Kaillie repeated her Olympic triumph at Sochi in 2014, winning Gold for Canada again. She made history as the first female bobsledder to successfully defend an Olympic title. Her consecutive wins earned her the prestigious Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada’s Athlete of the Year in 2014.

After back-to-back Olympic gold medals, Kaillie’s commitment to advancing women’s participation in bobsleigh led her to campaign for the inclusion of women in the four-man bobsleigh events. For two years, she had advocated for women to be allowed to pilot on men’s teams, arguing for equality and opportunity. Kaillie had to meet the same qualifying criteria as the male participants, which was demonstrating successful competitions on four different terrains in at least two countries. The one disadvantage in including women is in meeting the weight guidelines. Kaillie assembled a team, strategically leveraging her lighter weight to maximize her teammates’ options within the 650-pound sled limit. The team placed 15th, but the true victory was opening the door for co-ed competition. She led the way, to show that it can be done when in 2015, she made history as one of the first women to pilot a four-man bobsleigh team in a World Cup and world championship competition. “It’s like being a pioneer,” Humphries shared in a CBC interview, capturing the significance of her achievement.

Kaillie qualified to go to the 2018 Olympics at PyeongChang, South Korea, and was on the podium again with a Bronze medal for Canada as the pilot in the two-woman bobsled category with brakewoman Phylicia George. This made Kaillie Canada’s most decorated Olympic bobsledder. Kaillie moved to United States in 2019. She had married American bobsleigh gold medallist, Travis Armbruster, and joined the American bobsleigh team. Her transition was marked by anticipation as she awaited U.S. citizenship before she could officially enter any competitions. On December 2, 2021, she became a U.S. citizen in San Diego, California. Just two days later, she won her first race as an American citizen at the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) World Cup in Altenberg, Germany, demonstrating her adaptability and enduring talent. Kaillie went on to claim three world titles: the two-woman championships in 2020 and 2021. She set another record with the largest victory margin in Olympic bobsledding in 42 years. She made history again when she won a Gold medal in the first-ever Monobob event in the winter Olympics in Beijing in 2022. It was Kaillie’s fourth Olympic medal.

Another first - Kaillie Humphries holds a place in Olympic history as the first woman to win gold medals for two different countries, Canada and the United States.

Advocacy for Women in Sports

Beyond her athletic prowess, Kaillie Humphries is an outspoken advocate for equality and inclusion in sport. She has campaigned tirelessly to open the four-man bobsleigh discipline to women, challenging institutional barriers and sparking important conversations about gender equity. Humphries was a pioneer in co-ed bobsleigh competitions, pushing for the right of women to compete alongside men and proving that skill and determination transcend gender. In her last years with Canadian Olympic team, Kaillie challenged the style of coaching women’s teams received which led to her switching allegiance to the USA, but not before she publicly, and at great personal cost, made her point. She said it was important for her, as a gold medallist, to speak out to increase awareness and to demand safe environments for women in sport.

As a teenager Kaillie was bullied at school often ‘ghosted’ and excluded from activities. At ski camp as a teenager, she once found Jell-O in her sleeping bag. She was often made to ride the chairlift alone. Out of her experiences, and with her family’s support, Kaillie said she found an inner strength and courage to overcome the social difficulties and, as an adult and public figure, Kaillie believed it was important to take a public stand against bullying. She speaks in schools and youth forums, working for anti-bullying campaigns and the international organization Right to Play.

Strength, Determination, and the Journey to Motherhood

Kaillie Humphries, renowned for her grit and tenacity as a gold medallist bobsleigh Olympic champion, brought the same unwavering perseverance and determination to her personal life in the hope of starting a family with her husband, Travis Armbruster. They faced a challenging journey toward parenthood. Kaillie had been diagnosed with endometriosis, a condition known to cause severe pain and impact fertility. Refusing to relinquish the dream of having a child, she and Travis embarked on the demanding and unpredictable path of in vitro fertilization (IVF). The emotional toll of three unsuccessful IVF attempts was considerable, yet Kaillie drew upon the same grit that propelled her to Olympic glory. In an interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune, she reflected, “If there’s anything sport has taught me, when the pressure gets high, keep everything simple and take it step by step.” Persevering through disappointment and uncertainty, Kaillie’s steadfastness paid off. On June 14, 2024, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy, named Aulden. Kaillie said in an interview, there were so many tears of joy in the delivery room.

Kaillie’s story of resilience continued as she returned to the global stage just nine months after giving birth. At the 2025 International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation World Championships in Lake Placid, she competed fiercely, finishing fourth—just missing the podium by one place. Still, Kaillie celebrated the achievement of returning to top-level competition so soon after childbirth. She plans to continue her training with the goal of qualifying for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. She has her sight set on gold once again.

Legacy

Kaillie Humphries’ is recognized as one of the most decorated female bobsledders in history, with four Olympic medals. Kaillie has stood on the podium over 70 times and has celebrated 34 World Cup victories. She has four Olympic medals - three Gold and one Bronze, and five Gold Medals in World competitions representing two different countries, Canada and the United States. Kaillie is considered unsurpassed in elite bobsled racing. Her achievements have set new standards. As a trailblazer in women’s bobsled, and an advocate for fair and just treatment she embodies determination, tenacity, courage and the spirit of a true pioneer. While Kaillie is known for her fierce competitiveness and remarkable achievements, she is equally recognized for her collaborative spirit, compassion for teammates, charitable advocacy work against bullying and dedication to her family. Many of these qualities—courage, persistence, loyalty, and strength—echo the legendary figures of the Icelandic sagas, whose heroes were celebrated for their bravery, honour, and exceptional skills. These values remind us of the power of roots, traditions and the enduring bonds of family. Kaillie has reshaped the landscape of women’s elite sport. She stands as a symbol of what is possible when passion meets purpose—a true champion whose enduring significance will inspire generations to come on the slopes and beyond.