Updated March 12, 2026, 6:33 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump recognized Kaillie Armbruster Humphries, a six-time Olympic medalist in bobsled, as part of the celebration of Women’s History Month at the White House, and she returned the favor with an Olympic honor for him.
Armbruster Humphries, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Canada, said it was a huge honor to win medals for her adopted home. She said the honor was particularly sweet after accomplishing it as a mother who was told she could never get into mental and physical shape to medal again. She won two bronze medals for the United States at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics.
“The ultimate dream I had was to become a mom and then be able to stand on the Olympic podium,” she said. “This year I got to do that with my one-and-a-half-old-son. Being able to earn these two bronze medals, they feel like gold. They really do. He is my gold medal and will always be for my entire life.”
Armbruster Humphries thanked Trump for expanding IVF treatments for having children and for signing an executive order prohibiting biological men from competing in women’s sports. She delivered her son, Aulden, in June 2024, the result of two-and-a-half years of IVF treatments after being diagnosed with stage IV endometriosis in 2021.
Armbruster Humphries, 40, debuted at the 2010 Olympics, competing for Canada in Vancouver. She also competed in Sochi in 2014 and PyeongChang in 2018 before switching to Team USA in 2019. She was granted U.S. Citizenship in 2021, five years after moving to the United States with her husband Travis Armbruster in 2016.
At the 2026 Winter Olympics, Armbruster Humphries won bronze in the women’s monobob Feb. 16 as Team USA’s Elana Meyers Taylor took the gold. Armbruster Humphries then teamed with Jasmine Jones in the two-woman bobsled Feb. 21 for her second bronze of the Milano Cortina Games.
Olympic athletes are allowed to present a medal called the Olympic Order of Ikkos to someone who made a meaningful contribution to their trip to the podium. Armbruster Humphries presented hers tearfully to Trump.
“Having my one-year-old son chase me around the Olympic podium, another huge honor and a dream come true,” she said. “I want to encourage every single mother out there to follow your dreams and don’t let anybody put limits on what you believe you can do.”
She said she thinks it’s the first such medal ever awarded to a president.
“I knew I liked her,” Trump said. “That’s really nice.”
Contributing: Payton Titus and Nancy Armour
