(L-R) Lauren Gibbs and Elana Meyers Taylor compete in bobsled at the women’s bobsled World Cup on Jan. 26, 2019 in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
Three-time Olympian Elana Meyers Taylor and Lauren Gibbs teamed up to win the Olympic silver medal in PyeongChang nearly a year ago, and on Saturday they partnered again to not only win the world cup bobsled event in St. Moritz, Switzerland, but also set a new track record.
This is Meyers Taylor’s fifth world cup podium in a row but her first win of the season. Not counting a race in December in which Meyers Taylor was disqualified for her sled being underweight, she has reached the podium in all seven two-woman bobsled competitions she’s competed in since Jan. 13, 2018.
Paired together for the first time this season, Meyers Taylor and Gibbs posted the fastest start time (5.36 seconds) and the first overall time of the first heat (1:08.09), with Germany’s Stephanie Schneider and Lisa Sophie Gericke just behind them with a time of 1:08.21.
Then on the second run the U.S. Olympic teammates were even faster, finishing in a record 1:08.02 for a total time of 2:16.11. Germans occupied the next three spots, with Schneider and Gericke finishing in second place, .60 seconds behind, and 2018 Olympic champion Mariama Jamanka and Franziska Bertels in third.
Switzerland has historically been good to Meyers Taylor. Her last world cup victory before Saturday also came at the St. Moritz track on Jan. 13, 2018, paired with Lolo Jones. She also won her three prior two-woman races there, dating back to 2016.
So far this season Meyers Taylor has also won one silver and three bronze medals while paired last weekend with “Next Olympic Hopeful” finalist Sylvia Hoffman and Lake Kwaza.
This is the last weekend of world cup racing in Europe before the circuit moves to North America.
Karen Price is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has covered Olympic sports for various publications. She is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
