Former College Softball Player Set for Her Fifth and Possibly Final Winter Olympics

Elana Meyers Taylor is trying to win her first gold medal this year.

Elana Meyers Taylor is set to take on her fifth Winter Olympics. | George Washington Softball

George Washington University softball’s first-ever recruit, Elana Meyers Taylor, is set to take on her fifth Winter Olympics. 

Prior to the bobsledder becoming America’s most decorated Black athlete in the Winter Olympics, Meyers Taylor had an outstanding softball career. The Georgia native competed for the Colonials from 2003 to 2007, and closed her historic career as the program's record holder in nearly every offensive category.

SHE'S BACK 🙌

5x Olympic medalist Elana Meyers Taylor is headed to her fifth #WinterOlympics!#MTUSA pic.twitter.com/hN3HskGFJ9

— Team USA (@TeamUSA) January 20, 2026

Defensively, Meyers Taylor not only threw the first pitch and earned the first win in program history, but she also recorded the team's first hit and scored its first run. She was the first Colonial to bat above .400 for a season.

The four-time Olympic medallist's achievements landed her on the Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team twice, and she became the first softball alum elected to the George Washington Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014. Her jersey number 24 was later retired. 

After a standout career as a pitcher, shortstop, and third baseman, and a year playing professionally, Meyers Taylor tried and failed to make the U.S. Olympic Softball Team ahead of the Beijing Games in 2008. 

When she didn’t make the team, she couldn’t shake the idea of never becoming an Olympian. So she hung up the cleats and tried other sports, such as rugby, and then eventually found bobsled. Now, she’s a four-time Olympic medalist, with three silvers and one bronze, and became the first world champion in women’s bobsled for the U.S. in 2015.

With a fantastic finish in monobob, @GW_Softball alumna Elana Meyers Taylor became the first athlete to win four bobsled medals for @TeamUSA. Congrats, @eamslider24!!!

➡️ https://t.co/366ik4HQzF#RaiseHigh | #OlympiansMadeHere pic.twitter.com/vjB4NQ88Bz

— George Washington Athletics (@GWsports) February 14, 2022

The experiences softball gave her, though, were instrumental in getting to this point in her athletic career. 

“I learned so much from softball,” Meyers Taylor told Team USA in 2021. “I was a team captain each of my five years in college, too, so learning how to captain a team and then needing to do it from a bobsled perspective as a pilot, that definitely helped me in and of itself.”

Medals and accolades aside, her biggest achievement in life is motherhood. With her husband, former Olympic bobsledder Nic Taylor, she’s raising two deaf boys, 5-year-old Nico and 2-year-old Noah. Meyers Taylor has become an advocate for using American Sign Language.

With her boys as her biggest motivation, the 41-year-old is more than ready to take on ​​Milano Cortina and only has eyes on the gold. 

“I’ve had a really great bobsled career, I’ve done a lot of amazing things,” Meyers Taylor told NBC. “There is one thing I have left to do, and I want to win a gold medal more than anything. The coolest thing about this whole journey, though, is that my boys get to see me go for it. You’re never guaranteed another Games, but this Games definitely feels like it might be my last shot.” 

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