Elana Meyers Taylor speaks at a press conference on Feb. 22, 2018 in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Already a two-time world champion and three-time Olympic medalist in bobsled, Elana Meyers Taylor will next preside as president of the Women’s Sports Foundation, the organization announced Thursday.
Meyers Taylor, who won her second Olympic silver medal this past February in PyeongChang, will begin her one-year term in January 2019, succeeding freestlye skier Grete Eliassen.
In her role, Meyers Taylor will “provide leadership and visibility” while working with the board of trustees, which added six new members Thursday as well. In addition, the president serves as co-chair for the WSF’s Athlete Advisory Council.
“In my new role, I hope to create more equitable opportunities for women and girls to unleash their inner athlete and experience the benefits of sports participation,” Meyers Taylor tweeted.
A Douglasville, Georgia, native, Meyers Taylor has a long history of success and leadership in sports.
A former collegiate softball player at George Washington, Meyers Taylor transitioned into bobsled, where she established herself as one of the top athletes in the sport. She made her first Olympics as a push athlete, winning a bronze medal in 2010 with Erin Pac, before winning Olympic silver medals as a pilot in 2014 with Lauryn Williams and 2018 with Lauren Gibbs. Between the Games, she’s also won eight world championship medals and was the 2015 world cup champion.
Prior to the 2018 Winter Games, Meyers Taylor also competed with the U.S. rugby sevens national team, earning two international caps.
In addition to her success on the field of play, Meyers Taylor has also been a leading advocate for bobsled. Her recruiting efforts helped find crossover athletes from around the country who ended up making the U.S. national team. In 2014, Meyers Taylor and Canadian star Kaillie Humphries became the first women to drive a four-person sled in world cup competition.
Meyers Taylor also served a six-year term as an athlete director on USA Bobsled & Skeleton’s board of directors.
“(You’re) incredible & an inspiration to many (me especially),” Humphries tweeted at Meyers Taylor following Thursday’s announcement. “Stay badass, you inspire just by being yourself. Hold your head high and know this world can’t break you.”
Meyers Taylor becomes the WSF’s 17th president, and the 10th Olympian to hold the role, including Donna de Varona, the organization’s first president, from 1979 to 1984. Among the other Olympian to have held the role were Julie Foudy (2001-02), Dominique Dawes (2005-06), Jessica Mendoza (2009-10) and Angela Ruggiero (2013-14).
Chrös McDougall has covered the Olympic movement for TeamUSA.org since 2009 on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc. He is based in Minneapolis-St. Paul.
