Attempting to master her nerves, Kaysha Love exhales slowly while gripping the bobsled in front of her firmly. Her entire body is tense as she waits for the first women’s monobob heat to begin at the 2026 Winter Olympics. And there it is, the signal—she’s off running, sprinting for all she’s worth, legs pumping and muscles burning as she pushes the sled. 

Then, like lightning, she jumps inside and flies down the icy track at approximately 75 miles an hour.

Milano Cortina was not Love’s first Olympic experience—she competed in Beijing in 2022—but compared to her current fame and glory, her origins are much more humble. Born in Salt Lake City, she and her family settled in Herriman, where she attended Fort Herriman Middle School and then Herriman High. 

“I have so many fond memories of growing up in Herriman,” she said. “I really enjoyed high school and the city in general.” 

When Love lived in the once rural city, there was much more open space, and she and her family regularly took advantage of this to go four-wheeling. Some of her core memories include four-wheeling among the Herriman hills.  

The sport that started it all

Love comes from a family of athletes, so it surprised no one when she asked to take gymnastics classes as a child. Ironically, it was watching the Olympics that began the journey ultimately leading to her own Olympic pursuits. 

“I was obsessed with gymnastics,” she said. “My first interaction was the Olympics. These girls were doing these amazing flips, and I remember telling my mom I wanted to do that.”

After Love turned the family living room into a gym, using the couch as her personal vault, her mother, Stephanie, finally signed her up for classes. “My mom said ‘we need to put her in a real gym so she can’t break anything else,’” Love said with a chuckle. “And I absolutely loved it!” She soon rose to the top, achieving the highest level of gymnastics at the junior level.

But a career as a gymnast wasn’t in the cards. “It wasn’t until high school that I was constantly getting hurt,” she said. “I was so devastated. I think my body grew too fast.” After months and months of breaking bones or sustaining other injuries, healing and then returning only to get hurt again, Love made the heartbreaking decision to walk away. 

Spending 25 to 30 hours a week training for gymnastics meant she hadn’t made many friends, so as Love searched for something else to do, her mother suggested she might enjoy the close-knit groups in track and field. “I hated running but thought I’d try it for the sense of community,” she said. 

The reluctant runner ended up breaking multiple state records at Herriman High. “Some of my favorite memories are of track practice, laughing and having a good time,” she said.

“I think you’re in the wrong sport.”

Her success followed her to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she earned a degree in hospitality and helped her team to the 2020 NCAA national track and field championships. 

She didn’t know it then, but her life was about to change dramatically.

“A recruiter for USA Bobsled approached me and said, ‘I think you’re in the wrong sport. You’re a great sprinter, one of the best in the country, but you could be one of the best in the world if you do bobsledding,’” Love said. “I thought he was crazy. I didn’t know anything about bobsleds.”

But she decided to give it a try, discovering, of course, that she loved it. 

She loved the workouts less, but Love has always been determined to win.

On any given day during the preseason from April to September, you can find Love running brutal 60 to 100-meter sprints, then lifting weights for an hour or two and sometimes also push training in the same day. “I’m a sprinter at heart, but the weight room is where champions are made,” she said. 

To help her muscles recover from the abuse, she is a firm believer in contrast therapy. “I often sit in a hot tub for about three minutes and then jump into an ice bath for two to five minutes,” Love said. “It helps control my circulation and inflamed joints. Workouts are hard on joints. And it’s good for metabolism and blood pressure.”

During the bobsled season, which typically runs from November to March, Love’s exhausting days are longer, but workouts aren’t as intense. Her goal is to compete every weekend. March is usually a recovery month, the only month of the year she describes as “normal.”

Love has competed on three continents and describes the season as a whirlwind of driving across countries in a large rented van, training, competing and lugging and caring for equipment. “It’s not something I was expecting when I first came into the sport,” she said. “I thought maybe someone else would move the equipment and sand the sleds.” 

Easily scratched on the unforgiving ice, the steel runners of a bobsled need to be hand-polished to a flawless shine every week. Scratched runners can cost tenths of seconds or more during a race, which can mean the difference between a gold medal and finishing off the podium entirely.

“It takes me around four to eight hours to get every scratch, nick and blemish out,” Love said. “I start with maybe 100-grit sandpaper and work down to around one grit.” 

Once her team has finished one tiring competition, it’s time to pack up once again and drive to another country for another race. 

Olympic debut and beyond

Less than a year and a half into her bobsled career, Love found herself competing with the world’s elite in Beijing, where, despite her rookie status, she finished seventh in the two-woman bobsled as a brakewoman.

She took bronze at the 2023 Bobsleigh and Skeleton World Championships in the two-woman bobsled and then decided she wanted to pilot the monobob. “Piloting is finally something I feel equally passionate about [compared to gymnastics and running],” she said. “Being a bobsled pilot is something I was meant to do. It feels great.”

Love is the reigning world champion in the women’s monobob after winning gold in October at the 2025 world championships. 

“The world championships have always been a fun experience. They’re good practice going into the Olympics,” she said. “They’re a great opportunity to represent my country and work on my craft without worrying about winning medals or satisfying sponsors. I can perfect my skill.”

The Olympics, take two

Competing every weekend during the 2025–2026 season, Love’s tireless efforts paid off when she qualified for Italy, but with the expense of bobsleds, equipment and gear, she couldn’t have made it there without her sponsors. “I am extremely grateful to have partnered with Acura, Skims Clothing and Advance Manufacturing,” she said. 

A set of four runners can cost as much as $15,000, a monobob sled around $30,000, and a two-man or woman sled with upgrades can come in at a staggering $150,000. Advance Manufacturing built Team USA’s two-man and two-woman sleds and runners. 

“This was an absolute game-changer for the season. I definitely couldn’t have done it without the sponsors,” Love said.

Owned by Honda, Acura sponsors the USA bobsled team and Love in particular, while Honda sponsors Team USA in general. 

“As the Official Automotive and Premier Technology Partner of USA Bobsled/Skeleton, Honda supported Kaysha and the team with aerodynamic testing at the Honda Automotive Laboratories of Ohio (HALO) wind tunnel to help maximize their performance heading into Milano Cortina,” Chris Abbruzzese of Honda Corporate Communications said.

“They brought us in [to the wind tunnel] throughout the season, and we also had trackers in our sleds that sent info about how fast we were going to a team of engineers at Acura/Honda. They dissected it and told us how to improve,” Love said. “It was incredibly helpful. They’ve been awesome! The sponsors continue to help us. It’s a game-changer for my career.”  

Grace under fire

Though she is no stranger to performing under stress, Love felt somewhat sidelined by the fierce scrutiny and expectations at February’s Olympics.

“I thought I was prepared to handle all the pressure but quickly realized that the COVID 2022 Olympics were very different from the ones in 2026,” she said. “The pressure of World Cups and world championships versus the Olympics are different things.” 

In Italy, Love had never before competed in front of so many family members and fans. The intensity caught her off guard, but she greatly appreciated the love and support.

Though she missed the podium this year, finishing seventh in the women’s monobob and fifth in the two-woman sled, she still maintained composure, finishing strong and expressing gratitude for the experience. “It was a good learning opportunity,” she said. “Pressure makes diamonds. It’s an incredible superpower to do great things under pressure.”

During her time in Italy, she enjoyed the two-woman bobsled heats the most. “I was hard on myself in the monobob, but in the two-woman, I really allowed myself to enjoy the moment,” she said. “I told myself that whether or not we come home with a medal, it’s amazing to know that I fell in love with the sport.”

The cost of achievement

As many successful athletes must, Love pays a high price for her victories. “We’ve all sacrificed the same things: spending quality time with family, getting established in a career, missing holidays,” she said. “It’s the hardest not seeing family and friends, but I’m so blessed because they understand the vision, and they’ve always been so supportive. It means everything.” 

Last year, Love spent Christmas Day with her team in Germany after a draining 24-hour drive from Latvia.

The world champion credits her mother and fiancé for inspiring her to persevere despite the sacrifices. “My mom was a single mom. Growing up, she had two jobs, a night shift, but she never missed a single track meet,” Love said. 

She and fiancé Hunter Powell met at a state track championship in college. Powell ran for Colorado State at the time, and in 2022, he asked Love on a date. She turned him down, feeling she didn’t have time for a relationship. “He said, ‘Okay, I’d love to date you if you change your mind,’” she said. “And of course, I changed my mind, and we started dating.” 

Last year, Powell retired from competing in decathlons to give bobsledding a try and made the national team. He competed in Italy in February in the four-man sled. Engaged last summer, he and Love will marry in September.

The bride-to-be also recognizes colleagues in the bobsled program for their support. “I have a team full of the most incredible athletes and coaching staff. There’s no other option other than to be successful in the U.S. program because you’re surrounded by greatness,” she said.

What’s next?

Love’s upcoming plans include many more races, culminating in the 2030 Winter Olympics in the French Alps. “It's a sentimental place for me because that track was where I had my first win as a pilot, and it was also my first World Cup race,” she said. “It was the first World Cup race of the season, and I won with a record.”

Apart from breaking international records, Love also hopes to use her hospitality degree to work with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. As part of the Salt Lake 2034 Olympic delegation team, she went to Paris to present to the International Olympic Committee her vision of why Salt Lake should host in 2034.

“If I’m not competing in 2034, my dream is to help plan and coordinate the opening and closing ceremonies,” she said. “I’d love to help run Team USA and help create the Team USA welcome experience.”

As an international bobsled star and celebrity, Love has earned her own place in history, experiencing things that for many are the stuff of dreams. But despite all this, she still reminisces about her beloved hometown—and sometimes even gets to visit.

As part of her training, she returns to her roots each summer to complete stadium runs at her old high school. “Going to the Herriman High stadium always brings me back to the good old times,” she said. 

To aspiring athletes, she offers advice that helped her through her own dark times. “Never give up. There will be days when you’ll want to give up. There will be no light at the end of the tunnel, but keep pushing and believing,” she said. “One of these days, it will be your day. You didn’t come this far to just come this far.”