We sat down with six-time Olympic medalist and mother of two, Elana Meyers Taylor, to hear about her journey to the monobob gold medal in Milan, how she balances being an elite athlete with caring for her sons, and her favorite part of her post-Games media tour. 

 

TOGETHXR: Take us back: how were you feeling before the Milan Games? What was your mindset like? And for those who don’t know, you’re a mom to two young boys. What was it like trying to get ready to take the whole crew over to Italy? 

Elana Meyers Taylor: Oh, my gosh. The whole season was crazy difficult. [It] started off with the season test event for the Olympic Games, and at that track, I finished 19th. It was not going well — from start to finish. I've been dealing with back problems. My teammate, Maci, became my nanny after a disaster with our other nanny. So, all those different changes throughout the season, and I was dealing with back injuries. It was a really, really rough season.

The hardest part was making it to the Games. Once we made it, [I thought] ‘Let's just go out and try and see what could happen’. I knew once we were in Italy, I would have a month off before the Games started. I'd have help with the kids. Everything was in place to have a successful Olympics, so I was confident about that. But also, you can't help but go in thinking ‘We're super underdogs, now. We're just gonna throw caution to the wind.’ 

It was freeing, in a sense, that nobody expected anything from me — I don't even think my own team. The USA Bobsled team didn’t expect anything from me. So, going in with that freedom was actually helpful because it allowed me to focus on what I needed to do. I wasn’t distracted by everybody else's expectations. 

TOGETHXR: A big part of your story is competing in five Olympics, which is an incredible run — but this was your first gold. Walk us through your gold medal-winning run. Did you know you had it in the bag while you were racing? 

EMT: I definitely didn't know whether it would be good enough for gold. As soon as I got through corner two, I said in my head, ‘You just got your medal. Now go get gold.’ Usually, I'm pretty in the moment. I don't think much. After I said that to myself, I lost all train of thought. I was just completely in the moment, but I knew once I got to corner two and was clean, that I was good for a medal. It was a really fun run, though. The four runs in Monobob were really fun. 

That's the thing that is foreshadowing. I want to feel that again. I want to do that again. It's so hard 'cause you know what it took to get there. I didn't know whether it would be good enough, but I knew I put everything out there. I gave it everything I absolutely could, and I was hoping it was good enough. [I saw] Laura Nolte (Germany) come after me, and she made a pretty big mistake out of corner two, oddly enough. I knew she was going to lose time. I was actually surprised she didn't lose more time, and she started coming back on the clock. At one point, there's not enough track left, and you're like, ‘I got it, I got it.’ And then it was just pure emotion, joy, everything. Just disbelief, really.

TOGETHXR: Did it feel any different than your other medals? 

EMT: It absolutely felt different. For my entire career, I thought ‘medals are medals, it doesn't really matter’, but to actually have done it and to be an Olympic champion… The crazy thing is how people, both outside the sport and within the sport, treat you differently now that you're an Olympic champion. 

I’ve been doing this for so long. I've been successful for so long, and I didn't really feel like a gold medal would change things for me… it puts you in a different category, even within the sport. That's something I didn't even realize. Up until that point, I was undefeated in Olympic races in terms of medals. I was happy with my career. I didn't even understand that I could be happier.

TOGETHXR: Did that feel like a big box checked off on your resume once that gold medal was accomplished? 

EMT: Without a doubt. Even now, sitting here, I'm thinking, ‘What are our next goals?’ I've accomplished everything I wanted to in the sport. I've won the medals. Olympic medals, world championships, overall titles, all this stuff — and I've competed with men. I've done the four main things. I've done so much within the sport. I don't even know where to go from here because that gold medal was one thing I felt was missing from my resume for so long. Now that I actually have it, I still love driving a bobsled, but what is that motivating factor now? My kids have now seen me reach my goal and win a gold medal. So the question now becomes, what's next? 

TOGETHXR: We loved the clip of you sharing the news of your gold medal win with your sons. What was it like to have your kids there to witness that moment with you? 

EMT: It was so incredible. They're my motivation. This whole journey started because both of my kids are deaf. My oldest has Down syndrome. I want to show them that you can go after your goals, regardless of what the world tells you, because they've already been told no more times than I can even count. As a 41-year-old mother of two, I've had plenty of times when people told me no. 

I just wanted to show them, up close and personal, what it means to go after your goals. And that also, you're going to fail. There's going to be hard times, but you just keep standing back up, keep fighting, and keep going for it. I wanted to show that to them, because it's gonna be important for them for the rest of their lives. They didn't understand the gravity of being there for that moment, but fortunately, we got it all on film. They'll be able to understand it later, and hopefully, the feelings, the sights, and everything will resonate with them for a lifetime. 

TOGETHXR: Being a mom changes everything about your entire experience in the world. What's the hardest part of being a mom and an elite athlete? What's the best part? 

EMT: Sleep, sleep, sleep. Sleep is by far the hardest part. The energy of boys when you come off a hard training day, you still have to go, go, go. Especially my youngest — he's climbing on things, jumping off of things, and now he's in the business of seeing how high each thing he can jump off is. 

Nico has trouble sleeping. He's got sleep apnea, related to Down syndrome. Getting a good night's sleep for any parent is tough, and trying to do that while training is hard.

There was one night in Norway when one kid was sleeping, and the other wasn't. I'm not sleeping, and I know I've got training the next day. I'm really struggling on the track, and it felt impossible. It was just so hard. Fortunately, we got a great team in place. My husband flew over, helped me out with the kids for a couple of days, and helped me get a good night's sleep. It happened again, and again, and again, even in the two-man races. They're waking up in the middle of the night. That's definitely the hardest part.

The most rewarding parts are the moments I have with my teammates and the moments my kids have with my teammates. They have loved my kids so much and have been such great role models for them. The crazy thing is, for a lot of them, [my kids] are the first deaf people they’ve met, and Nico's the first person with Down syndrome they've ever met. I can't say enough about the relationships some of my teammates have with my kids. It's been incredible, and that's really cool to see. There are really good adults in their lives who love them and will take care of them. 

TOGETHXR: You're obviously no stranger to activism — between advocating for your kids, for the deaf community, and a long history of calling out racism, both in the sport and at large in the world. Why do you think that it's important for elite athletes to use their voice in this way?

EMT: I can't speak for all the athletes, but for me, I always knew that this sport was only going to be part of my life. It wasn’t going to be my full life. There's so much more that means so much more. Even being in the disability space, I've always felt really strongly about women's rights, and the rights of everybody, and fighting against racism. Being in the disability space, you see how much further we need to go. Having a platform as an athlete, I felt like anything I could do to help, I would do. I've always felt that way. I'm always going to try to make the world a better place when I can. 

I'm a mother first, so I have a responsibility to take care of these kids and to do whatever I can to make sure the world is better for them. The world right now is not built for them. Unfortunately, our country isn't made for them, and it seems to be getting worse by the day. I have a responsibility to fight for them until they can fight for themselves. I have a responsibility to teach them how to fight for themselves. 

If you're fortunate to live a long life, more than likely, you'll have a disability. For most people, that's the first time they encounter a disability, and they're not really sure what to do at that point. If we can make things more accessible now, it's going to help everybody — because once you become disabled, you'll need the services too. I've got a responsibility to fight. I'm never going to stop fighting — regardless of what my platform looks like. 

TOGETHXR: The media tour that you do after winning a gold medal seems wild. What has been the craziest moment for you? 

EMT: The whole thing has been wild. Meeting P!nk [on The Kelly Clarkson Show] was amazing, especially because I was warming up to her music just weeks before, and then I was sitting in front of her and meeting her. I think the craziest thing was actually when they brought me up to CBS Morning News. I went up to New York for a single interview — what is going on with my life? It's just been crazy. The amount of different people, their reactions, that's been really cool to see. People recognized me, even when I landed at home at the airport. One lady came up to me screaming and running, and there were people crying. Those moments actually mean more than the celebrity moments. The celebrity moments are awesome because I geek out, but at the same time, seeing how much it meant to everyday people in their daily lives meant so much to me. 

RAPID FIRE

Favorite sports movie: Love & Basketball. 

Biggest pet peeve: People not using a turn signal. 

Favorite musical artist: Oh, this is a hard one. Right now? Bad Bunny. 

Your go-to snack: Apples and almond butter.

Your advice for young athletes: The world needs you. You're gonna have challenges [but] you're gonna have such a good outcome. You can do it. The biggest thing is to believe in yourself and keep fighting.