Laura Nolte (left) poses with winner Elana Myers Taylor. © ANSA / ANDREA SOLERO

Four hundredths of a second: Nolte loses gold in monobob

Laura Nolte from Germany was narrowly defeated in the monobob at the Olympic Games.

February 16, 2026

From: dpa

Tears flowed at the finish line: Laura Nolte missed out on Germany's first Olympic gold in monobob by a mere four hundredths of a second in the final run. The 27-year-old, who had led for three runs, made too many mistakes as the last competitor in the final run and had to settle for silver.

This meant that Nolte missed out on becoming the first German Olympic champion in the solo bobsleigh event, four years after winning gold in the two-woman event. After finishing fourth at the 2022 Beijing Games, she at least secured her first Olympic medal in the singles event, which was only introduced four years ago.

Gold to Taylor

Nolte went into the decisive fourth run with a lead of just 0,15 seconds but was narrowly overtaken by Elana Meyers Taylor of the USA. For the 41-year-old mother of two, it was her first Olympic victory after a long wait. Bronze went to 40-year-old three-time Olympic champion Kaillie Armbruster-Humphries, eight hundredths of a second behind Nolte.