Elana Meyers Taylor on continuing the winning tradition of Black athletes at Winter Olympics
Team USA bobsled star pays homage to first Black Winter Olympic gold medallist Vonetta Flowers after making history at Beijing 2022.
Elana Meyers Taylor paid tribute to those who paved the way after she became the most decorated Black athlete in Winter Olympic history.
The Team USA bobsleigh star won silver in the inaugural women's monobob before the pilot claimed bronze with brakewoman Sylvia Hoffman in the two-woman bobsled.
With her two medals from Beijing 2022, Meyers Taylor now has five across four Olympic Winter Games, more than any other Black athlete.
It is one more than speed skating star Shani Davis, who won two gold and two silver medals across four Games.
Meyers Taylor pointed to Black athletes that have gone before her, reserving special praise for Vonetta Flowers who blazed a trail as the first Black athlete to win a Winter Olympics title with gold in the two-woman bobsled at Salt Lake City 2002.
She told Olympics.com: "There's a lot of people that came before me. Vonetta Flowers is the reason I'm here, and (speed skater) Shani Davis, and even Erin Jackson [500m speed skating gold medallist in Beijing].
"It's just been such a long legacy of Black athletes at the Winter Olympics and hopefully it just continues."
Speaking to Team USA, she added: "Hopefully it just encourages more and more Black athletes to come out to winter sports and not just Black athletes, winter sports for everybody."
Rewriting the history books
The records have kept coming for Meyers Taylor at Beijing 2022.
At 37, she became the oldest woman to claim an Olympic bobsled medal with her monobob silver and the first woman to win two bobsled medals at a single Olympics.
Meyers Taylor is the fifth USA bobsledder to win two medals at a single Games following Steven Holcomb, Steve Langton, Stan Benham and Pat Martin.
She has won a medal in every Olympic event she has entered since her debut at Vancouver 2010 where she won bronze in the two-woman bobsled.
Silver followed in the two-woman at both Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018 before her two-medal haul in China.
Meyers Taylor to consider her future in bobsleigh
Taylor and Hoffman - who was making her Olympic debut - won bronze behind the two German bobsleds of Laura Nolte and Mariama Jamanka.
It may be that Beijing 2022 will mark her final Olympics although she will not be making a decision any time soon.
She told Olympics.com: “I'm going to take some time to really think about this.
"It's going to be really hard to top this Olympics.
"I'll go back and really think about what I want to do next with my career.
"I still love driving a bobsleigh. I've still got the legs for it, but as far as the Olympic Games, it's too early to tell but we'll see what happens"
Meyers Taylor to be the USA flagbearer
Meyers Taylor will be Team USA flagbearer at the Closing Ceremony after being selected by her fellow athletes.
The last bobsledder to have that honour was Brian Shimer, who earned the four-man bobsled bronze medal in at the 2002 Games and has since coached the USA team.
Shimer paid tribute to Meyers Taylor as both athlete and person.
“I can’t say enough about Elana,” Shimer told Team USA. “It’s not just how she performs on the ice, but who she is as a person.
"It brings me back to my own career, when I won the bronze medal in 2002 and carried the flag in the Closing Ceremony.
"I’m reliving that moment, and feel like this is how it was supposed to end.
"The memories we’ve had over her career, medal or no medal, are really special and something I’ll treasure forever. I feel honored to be a part of her story.”
