After First Olympic Gold, Elana Meyers Taylor Is Eager to Take on Politics

The most decorated Black Winter Olympian of all time struck gold at Milan Cortina. For her next act, she has political office—and more bobsledding—in mind.

At age 41, Elana Meyers Taylor became the oldest individual gold medalist at the Winter Olympics. | Michael Madrid-Imagn Images

By the time the 2026 Winter Games rolled around, U.S. Olympian Elana Meyers Taylor had won almost everything there was to win in bobsled. Almost everything.

The 41-year-old mother of two boasted a whopping 10 world championship medals (four gold, three silver and three bronze), plus five Olympic medals from four different Games. She not only owned the title of the most decorated Black athlete in Winter Olympics history, but also the most decorated Olympian in U.S. bobsled history. She had broken records, shifted paradigms and racked up the hardware, all while advocating against racism and for increased diversity in the sport.

But, as her fifth Winter Olympics approached, there was still a trophy noticeably missing from her ever-expanding collection—Meyers Taylor had yet to win Olympic gold.

“I didn’t feel like I needed [gold]. I feel like I wanted it,” Meyers Taylor says. “I’ve done everything there is to do except this. I didn’t know it made that much of a difference.” 

Meyers Taylor won the monobob at Milan Cortina for her sixth Olympic medal. | Michael Madrid-Imagn Images

Even with all of her success on the global stage, the Douglasville, Ga., native had consistently missed out on the Games’ top prize by a frustratingly minuscule margin. But such is the life of a bobsledder, with the winning difference often no more than a heartbeat. 

At Sochi 2014, Meyers Taylor missed the top of the podium by a tenth of a second with future U.S. teammate Kaillie Humphries, who previously competed for Canada, taking home gold. That gap was even smaller at PyeongChang 2018, when she settled for silver by just seven hundredths of a second. It was always close, and would always be close, because that is what bobsledding asks of its competitors. But that doesn’t make the result sting any less.

Meyers Taylor, however, insists she was never all that worried about it. 

“I was pretty happy with my career up to that point,” she says. “I had much to be proud of and I have worked my tail off in order to even get those accomplishments.”

First Olympic Gold at 41 Years Old

At her fifth Games, Meyers Taylor’s moment finally arrived—she at long last struck gold, becoming the oldest individual gold medalist in Winter Olympic history after defeating Germany’s Laura Nolte by four hundredths of a second. The result was “incredible,” she says, but it didn't change her perspective on her career. 

Elana Meyers Taylor's GOLDEN reaction says it all. 💛🥇 #WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/5gU3MItPN5

— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) February 17, 2026

“As much as I want to say, ‘Oh, yes, winning this gold medal was going to be the be-all, end-all,’ it really wasn’t,” Meyers Taylor says. “It’s different, the way people have treated me since, but it didn’t make much difference to me as far as how I felt about my career.”

Such a relaxed approach seemed to be a common theme for American medalists at the Milan Cortina Games. Figure skater Alysa Liu, the first American to win gold in the women’s individual event in over 20 years, captured the top prize with an almost shockingly devil-may-care attitude, while 21-year-old speedskater Jordan Stolz won two gold medals with a surprisingly nonchalant approach that defied his age.

“It was a combination of me telling myself, ‘It’s not over. You can still do this. You can still pull it out,’ ” Meyers Taylor says. “And also being realistic, like, ‘Hey, it’s been a really difficult season. Cut yourself some slack, and why don’t you just go in there and have some fun? You’ve worked so hard to get here. We’ll just go in there and enjoy it and see what happens.’ ”

She attributes much of her drive to showing her two young children that they can overcome any challenge. Her oldest son, Nico, has Down syndrome and is deaf; her youngest, Noah, is also deaf. In one of the most heartfelt moments of the Games, Meyers Taylor was shown signing, “Mommy won!” to them as she celebrated her medal win. 

Elana Meyers Taylor signs to her son: "Mommy won." 🥇#WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/LUz4MAMrsR

— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) February 17, 2026

“My kids have been my biggest motivator, largely because of their disabilities,” she says. “I just wanted to show them, live and in person, that even when the world tells you no, even when the world says, ‘Hey, you're a 41-year-old mother of two, this is not possible,’ that you could still go for your dreams and you could still go after it, and, in this case, achieve them.”

A Future in Politics

With an Olympic gold medal secured, the ambitious Meyers Taylor now has her sights set on yet another lofty goal: political office.

If that pivot sounds surprising, it shouldn’t. Outside of her athletic career, Meyers Taylor has served on the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, and has repeatedly used her platform to advocate for her children.

“I just want to make the world a better place for people, in particular,” she says. “I need to do everything I can to make sure my boys are taken care of, and there are so many disabled children in their same circumstances that I want to make sure are taken care of as well.” 

Meyers Taylor often travels to events with her whole family, including her two sons. | Julian Finney/Getty Images

Though she is open to all levels of office, Meyers Taylor says that perhaps a local role in Texas, where she and her family reside, might be the most sensible starting point. However, if she one day ran for U.S. Congress, Meyers Taylor would have the chance to join an exclusive club of seven politicians who were Olympians before heading to Capitol Hill.

“I don’t have a set plan about X, Y, and Z yet,” Meyers Taylor says, “but at the end of the day, I want to be able to make the most impact and really change the world for our kids. They deserve to have the same opportunities as everyone else. And when I say ‘our kids,’ I mean our disabled kids.”

Whatever she decides, at least one thing is for certain: Her bobsled career isn’t over just yet.

“I’m just gonna take it year by year,” Meyers Taylor says. “[Milan Cortina] definitely won’t be the last time I’m in the sled. But competing at the World Cup level or at the national level is a whole different thing than [the 2030 Olympics]. So, definitely will be in a sled again, but whether or not we make it to 2030, we’ll see. We’re just going to take it year by year and see how it goes.”

A fair enough plan. Meyers Taylor has, after all, accomplished everything there is to do in a bobsled. Now, her next act could lie beyond the track.

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