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US bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor’s 20-year wait for an Olympic gold medal finally came to an end at her fifth Games.
The American had already won everything there had to be won in the monobob – everything, that is, except gold at the Winter Olympics. But at the age of 41, the gold that had evaded her for so long was finally in her grasp.
Rallying in the fourth and final heat, Meyers Taylor won the women’s monobob title at the Milan-Cortina Games on Monday night.
In emotional scenes, the veteran dropped to her knees in tears when Germany’s Laura Nolte came through the gate off Meyers Taylor’s winning pace of three minutes, 57.93 seconds, making the result official.
Nolte finished second, while Meyers Taylor’s compatriot Kaillie Humphries Armbruster was third.
Meyers Taylor collapsed to the ground in tears as her victory was confirmed before scooping up her two sons – Nico and Noah – into her arms.
US bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor won gold in the women’s monobob at the Winter Olympics
At her fifth Winter Olympics, the 41-year-old American finally clinched a gold medal
Nolte led by 0.15 seconds going into the final run, with Meyers Taylor second and Humphries Armbruster third – 0.24 seconds off the lead.
Barring big mistakes, gold, silver and bronze would be theirs in some order; nobody else was within six-tenths of a second of Humphries Armbruster, nor within about a full second of Nolte’s lead going into the final heat.
They go in reverse order in sliding. That meant Humphries Armbruster went first among the final three, then Meyers Taylor, then Nolte.
Humphries Armbruster finished in 3:58.05, knowing she was assured of her fifth career medal when she crossed the line. As the sled skidded to a stop, she was already on her feet – throwing her arms into the air, knowing at least bronze was coming her way.
US coach Brian Shimer, often stoic, started punching the air in celebration. And then the scene was set for Meyers Taylor, who held on to no worse than the silver spot and wrapped herself in an American flag after hopping out of the sled.
Nolte had the lead going into the last run. She just couldn’t hold it.
Meyers Taylor had medaled five times before – three silver, two bronze. She was the most decorated black athlete ever at a Winter Olympics even before this win, and her place in history got a whole lot more dazzling on a frosty night in the Italian mountains.
And this medal, her sixth, tied Bonnie Blair for the most by an American woman in the Winter Olympics.
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What does Elana Meyers Taylor’s long journey to Olympic gold say about perseverance and success?
The veteran athlete stormed to victory with a pace of three minutes, 57.93 seconds
Her American teammate Kaillie Armbruster Humphries, 40, clinched the bronze medal
Meyers Taylor is also now the oldest American woman to ever win gold at the Winter Games.
Humphries Armbruster won the gold medal in the inaugural running of monobob at the 2022 Beijing Games, with Meyers Taylor winning silver.
In Italy on Monday night, they became the first 40-something women to do so in women’s Olympic bobsled history. Meyers Taylor – who already was the oldest woman to win a bobsled medal, having been 37 at the Beijing Games – is now 41, and Humphries Armbruster is 40.
This is the fifth time that Meyers Taylor and Humphries Armbruster have competed in the Olympics. Each has medaled in each of their previous four appearances.
