CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Elana Meyers Taylor was Team USA’s most successful female bobsledder — except she had never won an Olympic gold medal.
That ended Monday as Meyers Taylor took the top prize, claiming gold in the women’s monobob at the Cortina Sliding Centre.
In winning her sixth Olympic medal, she tied speedskater Bonnie Blair as the most decorated U.S. woman in Winter Olympic history.
Germany’s Laura Nolte, who led heading into the fourth and final heat, finished four one-hundredths of a second behind in the combined times and took silver.
American Kaillie Humphries claimed the bronze.
Monobob is a women’s event that made its debut at the Beijing Olympics four years ago. Only one person competes, pushing the sled at the start and piloting down the course at speeds of 70-80 mph. There were 20 competitors in the inaugural event, and Humphries won its first gold medal.
Although she originally competed for Canada, Humphries switched to representing the U.S. in 2019 after reporting she faced abuse and harassment from the Canadian bobsled federation. Two investigations found that Humphries’ allegations could not be proven, but she was released to compete for the U.S. team.
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