Elana Meyers Taylor describes Olympic journey as she competes at 5th Winter Games

At 41 years old, Elana Meyers Taylor races down the way successful a 350-pound bobsled arsenic the astir decorated pistillate Olympic bobsledder of each time. She is besides the astir decorated Black jock successful Winter Games past with 3 metallic and 2 bronze medals.

"Most radical deliberation of bobsleds similar a roller coaster, but it's not astatine all. Like you person the vibration of the sled. You person going up and down banked curves," she explained. "Like it is insane. But erstwhile you deed it right, erstwhile you're truly nailing it, it's the closest happening to flying I could deliberation of."

The 2026 Milan Cortina Games is her 5th consecutive Winter Olympics.

"I emotion going accelerated and I emotion being capable to power this happening that should beryllium retired of control, that should beryllium uncontrollable," she said. "It's conscionable truthful overmuch amusive to maine and erstwhile you deed the curves close and erstwhile you're gliding, it feels similar being a superhero."

Her way to bobsledding

Bobsledding wasn't primitively Meyers Taylor's intended path. She initially wanted to marque it to the Summer Olympics arsenic a softball player.

"I tried retired for the summertime squad and had a catastrophe of a tryout," Meyers Taylor recalled.

She credits her parents for helping her to find different avenue to execute her Olympic dream.

"My parents had really seen bobsled connected TV, and they're like, 'Hey, wherefore don't you effort this?' I was like, 'Sure, wherefore not?' Googled it, emailed the manager and got invited to a try-out."

She said switching from softball to bobsledding isn't arsenic utmost arsenic 1 would think.

"Bobsled is 1 of those sports you get successful aboriginal successful life, anyway. Our spot and velocity that you request successful softball converts truly good to bobsled," Meyers Taylor explained. "Like if you person that athleticism, we tin thatch you everything you request to cognize to go an elite bobsledder."

It is an costly sport, though. Sleds tin outgo $60,000 and there's besides a request for crystal – truthful Meyers Taylor, who present lives successful Texas, gets originative successful the summer.

"What amended mode erstwhile you don't person a propulsion track, and we don't person entree to a sled, than propulsion a car," she said.

Family support

Meyers Taylor said she's experienced racism and bouts of slump implicit the years, but credits the enactment from her household for helping her to propulsion through.

Her husband, Nic Taylor, is simply a erstwhile Olympic bobsledder and her dada often helps with their 2 boys.

"They some person antithetic needs. They're some deaf and my oldest has Down syndrome arsenic well," she said. "So not lone are we juggling mean parenting stuff, we're juggling therapies. We're juggling learning motion connection and the biggest happening for maine is it is simply a household effort and we person a batch of amusive doing it."

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