Elana Meyers Taylor has created history at the Winter Olympics. The veteran bobsled champion has clinched a historic gold medal at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics 2026 after four attempts.
Taylor competed in the women’s monobob at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. The 41-year-old edged out world champion and Olympic champion Laure Nolte of Germany.
Elana Meyers Taylor’s Performance at the Winter Olympics 2026 Explained
Taylor was aiming to equal Bonnie Blair’s record for the most Winter Olympic medals in the history of US sports. For the uninitiated, Blair was a veteran speed skater who had won six medals overall [including five gold medals between 1988 and 1994], and Taylor had already won five medals by the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. However, a gold medal always eluded her.
But not this time. The American bobsledder from Oceanside, California, was all set to go for the gold, and she fiercely competed with her German counterpart for the same. For the first half, everything was in favor of the German champion Nolte.
However, the American had other plans. In the third run, she clocked a new record of 59.08 seconds, edging out Nolte. Despite her best efforts, the 27-year-old German just couldn’t match Taylor and missed the gold medal by four hundredths of a second.
American competitor Kaillie Humphries finished third overall with a time of 3:58.05, 0.12 seconds behind Nolte, and 0.16 seconds behind Taylor.
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Taylor made her Olympic debut in 2010 at the Vancouver Winter Olympics. The then 26-year-old bobsledder clinched a bronze medal in the two-woman category, drawing the world’s attention to her talent.
The American champion returned to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, where she won a silver medal in the two-woman event, an upgrade from her previous performance in Vancouver. Taylor maintained consistency at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics with a silver medal finish in the two-woman category, while at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics she also clinched the bronze medal in the women’s two-woman category, and, in her Olympic debut, silver in the monobob category.
Apart from her legendary exploits at the Winter Olympics, Taylor also made Team USA proud at the World Championships and the Pan American Championships. The 41-year-old bobsledder won a total of 10 medals at the Bobsled World Championships, which included four gold medals between 2012 and 2017.
Before the Winter Olympics, Taylor had clinched a bronze medal in the monobob category at the 2025 World Championships. It would be interesting to see whether the 41-year-old bobsledder maintains the consistency in the two-woman category, which will take place between February 20 and 21.
