(L-R) Elana Meyers Taylor and Sylvia Hoffman pose for a photo after the two-woman bobsled at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on Feb. 19, 2022 in Yanqing, China.
BEIJING — Going into the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, Elana Meyers Taylor might not have known it, but 2022 would turn out to be the year of the dragon for her.
On Saturday, the 37-year-old from Douglasville, Georgia, would secure her second medal of the Games, winning bronze in the two-woman bobsled on the track nicknamed the “Flying Snow Dragon.”
She would become the most decorated Black athlete at a Winter Games with a combined five medals.
“That’s pretty cool. There [are] a lot of people that came before me. Vonetta Flowers is the reason I’m here, and [speedskater] Shani Davis and even Erin Jackson. It’s just been such a long legacy of Black athletes at the Winter Olympics. Hopefully, it just continues,” Meyers Taylor said.
Her first podium finish occurred days earlier when monobob made its Olympic debut. The four-time Olympian secured the silver — behind Team USA’s Kaillie Humphries, who became monobob’s first Olympic champion.
Going into the final day of women’s bobsled, Meyers Taylor — who won silver in PyeongChang — and first-time Olympian Sylvia Hoffman were sitting third. After putting down two consistent runs, the pair kept their position on the podium with a total time of 4:05.48, keeping the German’s from stacking the podium — an impressive feat accomplished earlier by Germany in the two-man event.
Finishing with the fastest time (4:03.96) was first-time Olympian Laura Nolte of Germany, looking for redemption after placing fourth in monobob. Behind her by 0.77 was her teammate and gold medalist from PyeongChang, Mariama Jamanka.
After the top five completed their first runs, the heat standings stayed the same from the day earlier. But it wouldn’t last long.
Germany had a third sled sitting in sixth, piloted by Kim Kalecki. After her first heat time of 1:01.30, she leapfrogged Humphries’ run of 1:01.75 to round out the top five.
