Medals update: Laura Nolte wins maiden Olympic gold medal in Beijing 2022 two-woman bobsleigh

German prodigy Laura Nolte claimed a decisive victory in the two-woman bobsleigh at Beijing 2022 on Saturday (19 February) to walk away with a gold medal at her first Olympic Winter Games.

The 23-year-old pilot was in fine fettle dominating three of the four heats to win Germany’s third gold medal since the two-woman bob was introduced for the first time in 2002. She clocked a combined winning time of 4:03.96 with defending champion and compatriot Mariama Jamanka finishing in second place with 4:04.73. American bobsleigh icon Elana Meyers Taylor finished third in 4:05.48 to win her fifth career Olympic medal.

Nolte and brakewoman Deborah Levi ruled the icy chute at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre, setting track records in the first three trips they took to the bottom. She got incrementally better, shaving milliseconds off with each run leaving the rest to play catch up. Jamanka clocked the fastest time in the fourth heat but it was not enough to knock Nolte off her perch.

“It’s all the emotions. I’ve never had this feeling before. It’s like we are drunk, but we’re not. We’re just drunk on happiness,” Nolte said.

“The world cup season was good. We showed we can be on the very top of the podium, and a lot of people expected us to get the medal. It’s pressure, of course. If we stay calm, and we do our things, we can really do it.”

Nolte came into the Games as one of the form drivers, winning four of the World Cup races she competed in and finishing off the podium only once.

The Olympic gold medal highlights her meteoric rise since she tried the sport for the first time in 2015, a year before she won the monobob gold medal when the event made its debut at the Winter Youth Olympic Games Lillehammer 2016.

She has gone from strength to strength, winning the junior world title in the two-woman bobsleigh and graduated into the senior ranks with bronze medals in both events at the 2021 World Championships in Altenberg.

“We went at every run like it was the first, not looking at others, and just focusing on ourselves. That paid off in the end,” Nolte said. “Coming into the finish line and seeing we did it, it's a crazy feeling you can’t describe it.” 

Bowing out of these Games with the bronze medal around her neck, Meyers Taylor became the most decorated black athlete at an Olympic Winter Games with five medals. She equalled America speedskater Shani Davis with her fourth medal after she clinched the silver in the monobob.

The four-time Olympian won bronze in the two-woman event on debut in Vancouver 2010, which she followed up with silver medals in Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018.