Elana Myers Taylor Triumphs at Winter Olympics

Elana Myers Taylor has finally secured an Olympic gold medal. After five Winter Olympics, the 41-year-old bobsledder clinched victory in the women’s monobob event in Cortina, finishing with a time of 3 minutes, 57.93 seconds. She narrowly beat Germany’s Laura Nolte by just four-hundredths of a second, marking the closest finish in women’s bobsled Olympic history.

Celebrating with her sons, Nico, 5, and Noah, 3—both of whom are deaf and have Down syndrome—Myers-Taylor was visibly emotional. It was a moment of deep significance for her.

“I didn’t think it was possible,” she shared, adding, “I didn’t need it, but I wanted it.”

This victory makes Myers-Taylor the oldest American woman to earn a medal at the Winter Olympics. With six medals, she has now matched Bonnie Blair for the most medals won by an American woman in Winter Olympic history.

Additionally, she set a record for the most medals won by a Black woman at the Winter Olympics. “It doesn’t even make sense to me that my name would be mentioned alongside Bonnie Blair,” Myers-Taylor remarked.

Nolte had been leading by 0.15 seconds heading into the final heat but fell behind, capturing the silver medal instead.

Growing up in Douglasville, Georgia, Myers-Taylor began her Olympic journey with a bronze medal in the 2010 two-person competition as a pusher. She later transitioned to piloting, winning silver in Sochi in 2014 and again in PyeongChang in 2018. Her most recent Olympic participation in Beijing earned her a bronze in the two-person event and silver in the monobob.

Kylie Humphries, also competing in the monobob event, previously took home gold and won bronze this time around. “I hear people say that turning 40 means it’s all downhill, but Elana and I are living proof that’s not true,” said Humphries, a mother to a one-year-old.

Myers-Taylor’s father, Eddie, once played football in the Navy and was a former softball player who transitioned to bobsledding. A concussion had nearly ended his career, but he made a comeback in 2016 and has continued to thrive since.

As a ten-time world championship medalist—including four gold medals—Myers-Taylor recently won bronze at the world championships in Lake Placid last March. Her compatriot, Keisha Love, who finished seventh at the Olympics, expressed her joy for Myers-Taylor’s achievement, stating that it symbolized the perseverance of veteran athletes after nearly two decades in competition.

“Meeting Elana was symbolic,” Love added.