Meyers Taylor, competing with Cherrelle Garrett after teammate Lauryn Williams announced her retirement earlier in the week, beat current Olympic champion Kaillie Humphries of Canada as she finished in a time of 1min 55.48sec to claim her sixth win of the eight-race season.

Humphries, with brakewoman Melissa Lotholz, were 0.61 seconds behind Meyers Taylor and Garrett, while fellow Americans Jamie Greubel Poser and Lauren Gibbs took third, missing out on silver by a mere 0.01 seconds.

It proved to be a deserved victory for 30-year-old Meyers Taylor, who returned to the track where she won Olympic silver 12 months ago, as the duo were quickest after both runs.

The result saw Meyers Taylor, who put in a flawless performance, become the first American woman to win an overall title since Jill Bakken accomplished the feat back in 2001 as she ended on a points total of 1,718, ahead of defending champion Humphries, who finished on 1,522.

Oskars Melbardis and Daumants Dreiskens sealed Latvia's first-ever overall World Cup title after they finished second in Russia ©Getty Images

It also proved to be an historic day in the men's race at the Sanki Sliding Center as Oskars Melbardis of Latvia clinched the men's overall two-man bob crown by virtue of his second-place finish behind Switzerland's Rico Peter.

Peter, alongside brakeman Simon Friedli, took his first-ever World Cup win as they were 0.13 seconds quicker than Melbardis and Daumants Dreiskens with a time of 1:52.33, but it was to matter little as the win gave Latvia their maiden overall World Cup success.

Sochi 2014 silver medallists Beat Hefti and Alex Baumann were third, 0.27 seconds back, while Canada's Justin Kripps and Bryan Barnett were fourth.

Melbardis' victory gave him a resounding overall total of 1,684 points, which proved enough to take the title as he ended the season 48 points ahead of Hefti and Baumann.

The Latvian now has the chance to claim an overall double when he races in the four-man bob event tomorrow. 

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