The Most Decorated Black Woman Athlete in Winter Olympics History
After winning her 5th medal, Elena Meyers Taylor has officially become the most decorated Black athlete in the nearly 100-year history of the Winter Olympics. Even more impressive is that she managed to achieve the feat after recovering from a bout with COVID-19.
During the 2022 Winter Olympics, Taylor won a bronze medal with Sylvia Hoffman in the two-woman bobsled competition with a total time of 4:05:48.
Taylor’s recent win adds to the Olympic medals she has previously taken home in 2010, 2014, 2018, and at the inaugural 2022 monobob event. Aside from making Black history with her accomplishments, she has also made women’s history as the most decorated female bobsledder ever and also the most decorated U.S. bobsledder of any gender in history.
“It’s so crazy to hear that stat and to know that I’m part of a legacy that’s bigger than me,” she said to CNN. “Hopefully, it just encourages more and more black athletes to come out to winter sports and not just black athletes, winter sports for everybody.”
“We want everybody to come out regardless of the color of your skin. We want winter sports to be for everybody, regardless of race, regardless of socio-economic class,” Taylor added. “I think the more diversity we have, the stronger our sport can be. So hopefully, this is just the start of more and more people coming out and trying winter sports.”
Moreover, the 5-time Olympian was supposed to be the Opening Ceremony flag bearer for Team USA but was unable to attend after testing positive for COVID-19. She quickly recovered, competed, and won two medals in the 2022 Winter Olympics.
The four-time Olympian then came out to win silver in the inaugural monobob, right behind teammate Humphries. She yelled, “We did it” as she came up to the finish of the final run, knowing everything it took for her to medal there.
Meyers Taylor is a three-time silver medal winner — Sochi 2014 and Pyeongchang 2018 in the two-woman bobsled event and Beijing 2022 in the monobob — and a two-time bronze medalist — 2010 Vancouver and 2022 Beijing in two-woman bobsled.
Meyers Taylor, who has raced with 41 different teammates on 14 tracks in 11 countries, hinted at retirement earlier at the Beijing Olympics.
“There’s a good chance that it’s my last one, I’m going to take some time and really think about this,” Meyers Taylor said. “It’s going to be really hard to top this Olympics. Two medals and now closing it out with flag bearer, it’s going to be really hard to top that.”
Meyers Taylor credited her husband and her son with her success, describing them as her greatest motivators. It was easy to see why as Nico often clapped and cheered on his mom as she stood on the stage receiving adulation from many. Meyers Taylor married coach and fellow Olympic bobsledder Nic Taylor in April 2014. She gave birth to her son, Nico, in 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“My success just really shows you that anything’s possible, that you could set goals, go after them and achieve them,” she said. “And that’s the thing is when I was a little girl, I set a goal to be an Olympian. I didn’t even set a goal to win five medals, but it happened. So, the sky’s the limit when you’re willing to go after your dreams.”
“Congratulations to my fellow Team USA athletes on all their success in Beijing.”
Taylor, who is 37-years old, is also reportedly the oldest American woman to win a Winter Olympics medal. Taylor was honored in her hometown of Douglasville, GA, a town 20 minutes outside of Atlanta last week. Riding in parades, sharing her smile for photos and waving to all of her neighbors as they celebrated her historic achievements community style.
