Elana Meyers Taylor did not even own a winter coat when she started bobsledding in 2007. Inspired by American bobsledder Vonetta Flowers, the first black person to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics in 2002, Meyers Taylor wanted to try the sport. She reminisced about speeding down hills on a skateboard on her stomach as a kid and thought bobsledding could offer the same rush.
“When bobsled is going right — and it sometimes goes wrong — it’s the closest thing I could imagine to being a superhero,” the 33-year-old pilot for Team USA told Olympic.org. “You feel like you’re flying. All sports have a zone, but ours is at 95 mph. You can feel the speed, you can feel the wind. It’s the most euphoric thing I’ve ever done.”
Today, the two-time Olympic medalist is known as the first U.S. female bobsled driver to win a world championship. In 2015, she won her first gold and just two years later, she clinched another world championship gold medal.
Meyers Taylor and two-time Olympic champion Kallie Humphries broke the gender barrier in bobsleigh when the pair became the first women to drive four-man bobsleds in 2014 at the World Cup competition.
“There were some little girls at the track that were excited to watch women’s bobsled today, and hopefully what Kaillie and I are doing inspires them,” Meyers Taylor said at the time. “I hope someday a woman racing in four-man isn’t news.”
A new international law made the sport “gender-neutral” in 2014, allowing men and women to compete against one another in all female teams or mixed gender teams.
Meyers Taylor recently named a fantasy bobsled team. Out of respect for her fellow female push athletes, the bobsledder told NBC the ideal male push athletes she wants in her sled are: Nic Taylor, Meyers Taylor’s husband and fellow teammate (an experienced brakeman); Usain Bolt, the legendary Jamaican sprinter; and NFL running back Marshawn Lynch.
While the public remembers Meyers Taylor winning the silver medal with Lauryn Williams at the Sochi Olympics in 2014, the bobsledder remembers her performance differently.
"I lost gold," she said. "For sure."
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Back for another Olympics in South Korea, Meyers Taylor is racing for gold as a top contender in the sport. A year spent recovering from a January 2015 concussion did not hinder the athlete’s dedication to improve in bobsleigh.
"I know I'm a better driver now than I was four years ago," Meyers Taylor said. “For me, it's always been about continually challenging myself and continually figuring out how to go down the hill faster.”
Her close friend and mentor Steven Holcomb, a gold-medal-winning driver who died last spring, will be on Meyers Taylor’s mind at the Games this year. The peers often shared advice with each other as two of the most accomplished athletes in bobsleigh.
"I know he's helped prepare me for this," Meyers Taylor said.
The natural athlete was offered scholarships to play basketball, soccer, track and field and softball. She decided to play softball at George Washington University where she received her a bachelor’s degree in exercise science in 2007 and a master’s degree in sports management, according to the athlete’s website.
“All of the qualities that you would want in an athlete, Elana has,” said U.S. bobsled head coach Brian Shimer. “She is a great all-around person, and a pleasure to have as an athlete.”
When she’s not training, Meyers Taylor is an athlete mentor for Classroom Champions, a non-profit connecting Olympians, Paralympians and other athletes with young students in underserved communities. Meyers Taylor is also involved in Right to Play as an athlete ambassador and volunteers with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
She aspires to become the CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee and compete in softball, which she played at George Washington University, at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
