
American bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor became the most decorated Black athlete in Winter Olympics history after she won the bronze medal in the two-woman bobsleigh on Saturday.
The medal is the fifth for Meyers Taylor, who passed Shani Davis’ four medals. The 37-year-old also is now the most decorated woman Olympic bobsledder of all time.
When asked about passing Davis’ record, Meyers Taylor said:
“That is overwhelming. It's so crazy to hear that stat and to know that I'm part of a legacy that's bigger than me. Hopefully, it just encourages more and more Black athletes to come out to winter sports — and not just Black athletes, winter sports for everybody," she said.
“We want everybody to come out regardless of the color of your skin. We want winter sports to be for everybody, regardless of race, regardless of socio-economic class. I think the more diversity we have, the stronger our sport can be. So hopefully this is just the start of more and more people coming out and trying winter sports,” she added.
The four-time Olympian is a three-time silver medal winner (at Sochi 2014, PyeongChang 2018, Beijing 2022) and a two-time bronze medalist (at 2010 Vancouver and Beijing 2022).
Meyers Taylor, who nearly missed the Olympic Games after testing positive for Covid-19 upon her arrival, hinted this would likely be her last Olympics.
“I'm going to take some time to really think about this. It's going to be really hard to top this Olympics. Two medals and now closing it out with flag bearer, it's going to be really, really hard to top that,” she said.
She will conclude the Beijing Winter Olympics as the flag bearer for the US at the closing ceremony Sunday.