US driver Kaillie Humphries Armbruster wins World Cup monobob race, building Olympic momentum

Kaillie Humphries Armbruster won Olympic gold when she was in her 20s. She won another Olympic gold in her 30s.

And now 40, she seems ready to chase even more gold.

Humphries Armbruster — who missed some of this Olympic cycle while becoming a mother for the first time — heds into next month's Milan Cortina Games with a slew of momentum. She won the women's monobob World Cup season finale at Altenberg, Germany, on Saturday, her third victory since December when adding in a pair of two-woman race wins.

“The goal was always to build each and every race throughout this year up until the Olympics, and I think we’ve been pretty successful at that,” Humphries Armbruster said. “So, to be able to win at monobob again is a really good feeling. We still have a lot of work to do, but overall, it continues to be steps in the right direction, which is great.”

At 40 years and 4 months, Humphries Armbruster is now the oldest woman to win a World Cup monobob race — breaking the record set last season by fellow U.S. slider Elana Meyers Taylor, who got a pair of wins at 40 years and 3 months.

Humphries Armbruster, Meyers Taylor and reigning world monobob champion Kaysha Love will all be nominated to the U.S. Olympic team on Monday as the pilots for the women's bobsled squad that will compete at Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.

“Age is just a number,” Humphries Armbruster said. “It does not define us or limit us in anything.”

Humphries Armbruster — the 2022 Olympic monobob champion — got her first World Cup monobob victory since February 2023, with Bree Walker of Australia second and Laura Nolte of Germany third.

Nolte took the season-long monobob title, with Walker second and Lisa Buckwitz of Germany third.

In two-man, Johannes Lochner of Germany capped his third season-long title in that discipline in the last four years — winning for the sixth time in seven races this season.

It was another German sweep: Adam Ammour drove to second and Francesco Friedrich finished third. Friedrich finished the two-man season in second place, Ammour third.

U.S. driver Frank Del Duca was the top American finisher Saturday, placing sixth.

Merle Fraebel of Germany won a World Cup women's luge singles race Saturday at Oberhof, Germany, with Lisa Schulte of Austria second and Natalie Maag of Switzerland third.

Ashley Farquharson was ninth for the U.S., and Summer Britcher was 13th.

Jonas Mueller of Austria won the men's singles race, with Felix Loch of Germany second in 1:24.640 and teammate Max Langenhan third in 1:24.824. For the U.S., Olympic team picks Jonny Gustafson and Matt Greiner were 19th and 20th, respectively.

Luge: World Cup men’s doubles, women’s doubles and team relay Sunday at Oberhof.

Bobsled: World Cup two-woman, four-man races Sunday at Altenberg.

Skeleton: World Cup season complete, Olympic races at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, from Feb. 12-15.

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

Kaillie Armbruster Humphries of the U.S. descends the track during the monobob, women, 1st run competition of the Bobsleigh World Cup, in Altenberg, Germany, Saturday Jan. 17, 2026. (Robert Michael/dpa via AP)

Winner Kaillie Armbruster Humphries of the U.S. celebrates her victory in the monobob, women, 2nd run, competition of the Bobsleigh World Cup, in Altenberg, Germany, Saturday Jan. 17, 2026. (Robert Michael/dpa via AP)

Winner Kaillie Armbruster Humphries of the U.S. celebrates her victory in the monobob, women, 2nd run, competition of the Bobsleigh World Cup, in Altenberg, Germany, Saturday Jan. 17, 2026. (Robert Michael/dpa via AP)

ISTANBUL (AP) — A Turkish court on Thursday issued a ruling that effectively removed the head of the country’s main opposition party by annulling a 2023 congress that elected him.

The move deals a serious blow to the beleaguered Republican People’s Party, or CHP, as it struggles under waves of legal cases targeting its members and elected officials.

An appeals court in Turkey’s capital Ankara declared the CHP congress that picked Ozgur Ozel as chairman to be null, ordering that he should be replaced by his predecessor, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

Last year, a lower court ruled against claims of irregularities and misconduct surrounding Ozel’s election but Thursday’s decision overturned the original verdict.

The ruling led to frantic meetings at the CHP’s Ankara headquarters, further threatening the opposition’s chances of unseating President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after more than two decades in office. Large crowds gathered outside the office block and police erected barriers.

The next presidential election is due in 2028 but Erdogan can call for an early vote. His main challenger, the CHP mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu, has been imprisoned since March last year and is currently on trial on corruption charges.

The appeals court's decision suspends Ozel and members of the party’s executive board from their duties. They will be “provisionally” replaced by Kilicdaroglu and those who held office before the November 2023 congress.

In comments to broadcaster TV100, Kilicdaroglu called for party members to remain calm. “Our party is a very large party and it will solve its own problems internally,” he said. The 77-year-old was removed following a 13-year tenure as leader, during which the CHP failed to win any national elections.

Ozel, meanwhile, attempted to rally supporters.

“I am not promising you a path to power through a rose garden,” he posted on X following the ruling. “I am promising you the ability to endure suffering but never surrender. I am promising you honor, dignity, courage and struggle!”

The CHP is expected to challenge Thursday’s ruling in the Supreme Court in the coming days.

Justice Minister Akin Gurlek, who oversaw several cases against the CHP in his former role as Istanbul’s chief prosecutor, described the court’s ruling as one that “reinforces our citizens’ trust in democracy.”

Many observers have said that the legal cases against the CHP — mostly centered on corruption allegations — are politically motivated and aimed at neutralizing the party ahead of the next election. The government, however, insists that Turkey’s courts are impartial and act independently of political pressure.

Erdogan has ruled Turkey, first as prime minister and then as president, since 2003. His electoral record suffered a serious blow in 2019 when the CHP seized control of several major cities in local elections. In Istanbul, Imamoglu emerged as a popular and charismatic figure that many felt could successfully topple Erdogan.

FILE - Republican People's Party or (CHP) leader Ozgur Ozel gestures to party members during his speech during a CHP convention, in Ankara, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Unal, File)

FILE - Turkish CHP party leader and Nation Alliance's presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, center, joins legislators elected to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey as they attend their first parliamentary session, in Ankara, Turkey, June 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Ali Unal, File)