Ilana Myers-Taylor of Team USA won a historic bronze medal in the bobsled event for two women, becoming the most decorated black sprinter in Winter Olympic history, with five medals.
Taylor Myers, teaming up with bobsleigh Sylvia Hoffman, finished in 4:05:48. She punched her fist in the air as she reached the finish line.
Last week, Myers-Taylor, 37, tied sprinter Shani Davis’ record for most medals — four — when she won the silver in the women’s monopop event, which debuted in Beijing.
American Kylie Humphreys, who won her first-ever gold medal in the women’s monopop event, finished seventh. Germany won 1-2, Laura Nolte and Deborah Levy took the gold, and Mariama Gamanca and Alexandra Burghart took the silver.
Friday’s first and second rounds put Myers Taylor and Hoffman in the bronze medal position, finishing in 2:02:79 – just 0.74 seconds behind the gold medal position – after two clean runs. In the last two innings on Saturday, the American duo maintained their momentum, retaining their bronze position after third (the fastest at 1:01:13) and fourth (1:01:56).
Myers Taylor is a silver and bronze medalist at the Beijing Olympics, but almost never made it to the starting line in the races. Soon after arriving in Beijing, she tested positive for COVID-19, and had to isolate from her son Niko for more than a week. She was able to submit two negative tests before starting bobsleigh training, and was allowed to compete.
The four-time Olympian then won the silver medal in the inaugural monopop, just behind teammate Humphreys. “We did it” she screamed when she made it to the end of the last round, knowing everything you need to get the medal there.
Myers Taylor is a three-time silver medalist – Sochi 2014 and 2018 Pyeongchang in the women’s bobsled event and Beijing 2022 in the monobob – and a two-time bronze medalist – 2010 Vancouver and 2022 Beijing in two women’s bobsled.
Myers Taylor, who has raced 41 different teammates on 14 tracks in 11 countries, hinted at retiring earlier at the Beijing Olympics.
“There’s a good chance this will be my last chance,” Myers-Taylor said.
She will be the flag bearer at Team USA’s closing ceremony.
Humphreys, who received her US passport in December, missed a medal in a two-women’s sledding event and was considered her highlight. Teamed up with Kaysha Love for the race. Humphries, 36, has won a medal in the event at every Olympics she has competed in — gold at Vancouver 2010, 2014 in Sochi and bronze at PyeongChang 2018 — for Team Canada.
Three nations have dominated the two-woman bobsleigh event since its inception at the 2002 Winter Olympics – Germany, USA and Canada – taking gold between them at each Games.
“Coffee ninja. Web fan. Hipster-friendly beer enthusiast. Professional creator.”