American bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor, 41, who raises two children with disabilities, has finally clinched gold in her fifth Olympic appearance.
On Tuesday, Taylor clocked 59.51 seconds in her fourth run of the women’s monobob event at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, held at the Cortina Sliding Center in Italy.
With a total time of 3:57.93 across four runs, she edged out Germany’s Laura Nolte by a mere 0.04 seconds to secure the top spot on the podium.
This marks Taylor’s sixth Olympic medal, cementing her status as the queen of American bobsledding. In her five Olympic appearances, she’s competed in six events, never finishing outside the top three. This latest triumph makes her the most decorated female athlete in bobsled history.
Amid the euphoria of her gold medal victory, Taylor’s thoughts turned to her children.
Taylor reflected that it’s surreal. This gold could mean everything or nothing. In less than a week, she’ll be back in Texas, doing school runs like any other mom.
Motherhood holds a special place in Taylor’s heart. She continued her athletic career after giving birth to Nico, who is deaf, in 2020, and Noah, who has Down syndrome, in 2022. Far from being a hindrance, her children have become the driving force behind her athletic pursuits.
Taylor shared that her kids are her motivation. They’ve kept her going. To them, she’s just mom – with a few more medals around her neck.
Fellow American Kaillie Humphries, who clinched bronze in the monobob with a time of 3:58.05, is another mom making waves. Humphries returned to competition just 18 months after giving birth, having undergone In vitro fertilization (IVF) following a stage 4 endometriosis diagnosis in 2021.
Humphries remarked that childbirth was as challenging as the Olympics, she’s proud to be here with her son.
Both Taylor and Humphries are set to begin official training runs for the two-person bobsled event. They won’t be competing as a team, however. Taylor will partner with pusher Jayden O’Brien, while Humphries teams up with Jasmine Jones.
The competition kicks off on February 21, with the medal-deciding fourth run scheduled for February 22. The team with the lowest combined time across all four runs will take home the gold.