Germany's Laura Nolte beats American rivals again for another bobsled win at Olympics test event

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CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Germany’s Laura Nolte celebrated her 27th birthday by edging out her American rivals to win the two-woman bobsled test event on the new track for the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics on Sunday.

Nolte, the reigning Olympic and world champion, and Deborah Levi finished 0.77 seconds ahead of Kaysha Love of the United States — who was paired with Azaria Hill — and 0.79 ahead of another American duo, driven by Kaillie Humphries Armbruster.

It was a second win in as many days for Nolte, who also beat Love in the monobob test event the previous day.

Humphries Armbruster, the Olympic champion in 2010 and 2014, celebrated her first podium in two-woman World Cup bobsled in almost three years. She took a break from the sport for a season and her son was born in 2024.

“I’m happy with my performance, it’s a step in the right direction,” she said. “The first run I was really happy with my drive and second run I was happy with our push, so piece by piece it’s coming together."

Johannes Lochner beat Francesco Friedrich for the second day in a row to win the four-man event.

Lochner and his team of Jörn Wenzel, Georg Fleischhauer and Thorsten Margis beat Friedrich by 0.22 seconds. The Olympic champion had Matthias Sommer, Alexander Schüller and Felix Straub in his sled.

South Korea's Kim Jinsu, with Kim Sunwook, Kim Hyeonggeun and Lee Geonu, secured their country's first four-man podium finish in the World Cup. The quartet finished in third, 0.61 behind Lochner, and celebrated almost as if they’d won.

It’s the first weekend of racing on the completely rebuilt Eugenio Monti track, which will be used for the Feb. 6-22 Olympics.

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics