(Los Angeles) Two-time Canadian Olympic champion Kaillie Humphries became a U.S. citizen on Thursday, which will allow her to compete for the United States at the Beijing Olympics.
The move ends a long saga in which the current world champion tried to sever ties with her native Canada in order to represent the United States in the women’s bobsleigh at the Olympic Winter Games which start in nine weeks.
“I am more moved than I would have thought,” said Kaillie Humphries after a meeting in San Diego regarding her naturalization process. “Even if you believe in the success of your application and know that it meets the prerequisites, you are never sure”.
“When she came back and said, ‘Yes, I approve your citizenship application,’ that’s when it became real. ”
Kaillie Humphries, who won three Olympic medals, including two gold, left the Canadian squad after filing a complaint in 2018 for harassment against a national team coach.
The bobsleigh federation agreed to let Kaillie Humphries go, even if the Canadian courts, seized by the champion, had refused to force her to do so.
Kaillie Humphries, who lives in California with a resident card, competed for the United States in a World Cup event in Austria last weekend.
“It took many years to achieve this result. A bumpy road filled with doubts and uncertainties about whether the decision would be made before the Olympics, ”Humphries said on his Instagram account.