CORTINA D\u2019AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) \u2014 Germany\u2019s Laura Nolte didn\u2019t let this lead get away. She\u2019s golden, again.<\/p>\n
And Kaillie Humphries Armbruster of the U.S. has a new favorite number \u2014 six, as in the number of Olympic bobsled<\/a> medals now in her collection.<\/p>\n Nolte is now the back-to-back<\/a> two-woman Olympic bobsled champion, holding off teammate Lisa Buckwitz to grab gold at the Milan Cortina Games<\/a> on Saturday night.<\/p>\n Nolte \u2014 the winner of the last four World Cup two-woman titles \u2014 cemented her status as the sport\u2019s current queen, teaming with Deborah Levi to win her second consecutive two-woman gold medal by finishing four runs in 3 minutes, 48.46 seconds. Levi was in her sled for the golden ride in 2022 as well.<\/p>\n \u201cIt means a lot, and even to defend it together as a team again is so cool,\u201d Nolte said. \u201cIt was such a fun race and we had to keep our nerves together until the very last corner, until the very last run, but it was amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n Buckwitz, with Neele Schuten in her sled, was second in 3:48.99. Humphries Armbruster and Jasmine Jones \u2014 two mothers in the same sled for the U.S. \u2014 finished third in 3:49.21. It was the sixth Olympic medal for Humphries Armbruster, tying monobob gold medalist Elana Meyers Taylor<\/a> for the most by any woman in the sport\u2019s history.<\/p>\n \u201cJust knowing Jasmine was behind me, knowing what this meant for us as a team, I really wanted it for her more than for myself,\u201d Humphries Armbruster said. \u201cShe gave everything she did and entrusted me to do the same. That\u2019s what teamwork\u2019s really about. I couldn\u2019t have done this with anybody else, and I didn\u2019t want to do it with anybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n Humphries Armbruster hasn\u2019t made any decisions on her sliding future. Meyers Taylor seems a whole lot closer to making her choice.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a hell of a journey. I can\u2019t even put into words what it\u2019s meant to be able to do this for so long,\u201d a teary Meyers Taylor said. \u201cTo be able to represent my country and be able to slide … I don\u2019t know if this is the end. It kind of feels like it is.\u201d<\/p>\n Also for the U.S., Kaysha Love \u2014 who has been dealing with a hamstring issue for much of the season and had it flare up again in Italy \u2014 and Azaria Hill finished fifth in 3:49.71. <\/p>\n \u201cAzaria and I haven\u2019t been doing this long enough to be anything other than proud,\u201d Love said. \u201cThis is only my third season driving. It\u2019s only her third season pushing. The people we\u2019re up against have 20 years of experience. I want to be frustrated because I think that we expect greatness out of each other.\u201d<\/p>\n Meyers Taylor and Jadin O\u2019Brien<\/a>, who were doomed by a second-heat skid<\/a> at the top of the track Friday night, got a few spots back in the standings Saturday and finished tied for seventh in 3:50.49.<\/p>\n Germany now has six bobsled medals in these Olympics, while the U.S. has three and the rest of the world has zero. The divide might get bigger on Sunday in the final sliding event of the Milan Cortina Games; Germany, which already swept the two-man race, is in position to do the same thing in four-man<\/a> after Saturday\u2019s opening two heats of that competition.<\/p>\n And Germany is now up to 17 sliding medals, counting bobsled, skeleton and luge, at Milan Cortina \u2014 one more than the rest of the world. Austria has five, the U.S. now has four along with Italy, Britain has two and Latvia has one.<\/p>\n \u201cWe knew we had to get one,\u201d U.S. coach Chris Fogt said.<\/p>\n The two-woman race was basically for the bronze going into the final run.<\/p>\n Nolte \u2014 who had the lead,<\/a> albeit a much smaller one, going into the final heat of the monobob competition<\/a> that Meyers Taylor ended up winning \u2014 led Buckwitz by 0.35 seconds going into the last heat. Buckwitz\u2019s lead over Humphries Armbruster was 0.19 seconds, and Humphries Armbruster was only 0.09 seconds up on Germany\u2019s Kim Kalicki in the race for the bronze.<\/p>\n Kalicki\u2019s final time: 3:49.36. It wasn\u2019t enough to catch Humphries Armbruster, who hopped out of the sled and wrapped herself and Jones in the American flag, knowing the medal was theirs.<\/p>\n Humphries Armbruster\u2019s updated Olympic medal count: three golds, three bronzes. <\/p>\n \u201cSix,\u201d Humphries Armbruster said, \u201cis my new favorite number.\u201d<\/p>\n