How Focusing on Personal Excellence Built an Olympic Legacy: Elana Meyers Taylor's Story

Elizabeth Montavon

Welcome to today's episode of Athlete Actually. I'm your host, Elizabeth Montavon, and today I'm joined by Elana Meyers Taylor, Olympic gold medalist, six-time Olympic medalist, and the most decorated Black Winter Olympian of all time.

At the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Games, Elana captured her long-awaited first Olympic gold in the women's monobob, cementing one of the most accomplished careers in Winter Olympic history and tying speed skater Bonnie Blair for the most Winter Olympic medals ever won by an American woman.

But Elana's legacy extends far beyond a single race. Across five Olympic Games, she's helped redefine what longevity, leadership, and excellence can look like in elite sport, becoming one of the defining athletes in bobsled over the last decade. Alongside that career, she's also become a powerful advocate and mother, raising her two sons, Nico and Noah, while competing on the world stage and supporting families impacted by disability, deafness, and Down syndrome.

Known for her honesty and ability to keep pushing her sport forward, Elana's story is about so much more than medals. It's about evolution, identity, and building a life alongside elite performance.

Elizabeth Montavon

Elana, thank you so much for joining us. You have been all over after Milano-Cortina. You've been on every TV show and talk show imaginable, and now you're finally on my show. It is such an honor to have you here.

Elana Meyers Taylor

It's great to be here. Great to talk to you.

Elizabeth Montavon

I know you've been in many cities doing many events and finally getting the recognition you deserve after a very long and GOATed career. What else have you been up to lately?

Elana Meyers Taylor

It's full-go parenting. It never stops. Even trying to figure out childcare, my kids have been traveling with us. Every single week we've been to two or three stops, sometimes four, which means two or three different cities. So it's been pretty jam-packed.

I've also started back training, and that's been interesting. You don't really think about the toll the Olympic Games - and really the last four years - takes on your body. So I'm starting back slowly, but also recognizing I've got to do some things with my body to get it back to where it needs to be before we can really get into the most intense training we'd want to do.

Elizabeth Montavon

I love hearing that your kids get to travel with you to these events. I think it's so important for kids to see their mom in her full element. You are so multifaceted, and I love that they get to experience all of those different sides of you. And you're right. We don't talk enough about how much a major cycle event like the Olympics takes out of an athlete, or what it feels like to come down from that peak and then start ramping back up again. So when you say you're training again, does that mean we have more competitions on the horizon?

Elana Meyers Taylor

I hope so. You never know exactly what it's going to look like. I recognize I'm 41 years old now, so things have to look a little different than they have in the past. Unfortunately, our sport doesn't really allow things to look much different. It's either the full World Cup circuit because of my ranking or bust. And being over in Europe for four to six months out of the year with two little kids isn't necessarily realistic anymore. So we have to sit down and talk as a team about what that looks like. I can't do every race, every training run, every single thing the way I used to. It's going to be a matter of figuring out what puzzle pieces still fit. And maybe they don't fit this time around. I'm okay with that too. We'll see what happens.

Elizabeth Montavon

When you bring up the age component, I think with that comes wisdom and all of the experience you've accumulated. I'm sure you'll make the right decision for you, your career, and your family because you have so much experience to draw from. Speaking of experience, I'd love to ask you our signature question. What is your sports story that no one has ever asked you about?

Elana Meyers Taylor

But my athlete story is a little different than most. It's kind of funny because I'm actually not the most competitive person. People are usually shocked when I say that. I didn't get into sport because I wanted to win at everything I do. I wasn't the kid fighting for the front seat in the car. I don't care who wins the card game. Of course I want to win, but not in the way people usually mean when they talk about being competitive. For me, sport has always been about trying to find out my best. Trying to be the best version of myself. I always wanted to see how good I could be. What were my limits? What were my capabilities? I think that's also why, later in my bobsled career, I continued to compete as a mom. I wanted to see what was possible. I wanted to see what was possible for myself. Yes, getting to the bottom of the track and winning is amazing. Winning a gold medal is incredible. But at the end of the day, it's always been about how I could perform and what that looked like for me.

Elizabeth Montavon

You saying you're not the most competitive person is fascinating because you're obviously one of the elite athletes on the planet. If that traditional competitive fire isn't what's driving you, how does that impact your dynamic with teammates and the people you train with?

Elana Meyers Taylor

I've actually gotten into trouble for this in coaching circles before. I genuinely believe a rising tide lifts all boats. If I have knowledge or information, I'm generally pretty open about sharing it. Sometimes that means telling my teammates. Sometimes it even means telling my competitors. Because I don't want to beat them when they're at their worst. I want to beat them when they're at their best. If I tell someone about a line on a bobsled track and it works for them and they end up beating me, then that's my fault. I had the same information and I didn't execute. That's always been my mindset.

One of the things that's really important to me is the growth of bobsled, both in the United States and globally. I believe that if everybody is competing better, the sport is going to continue to grow. I want Team USA to be competitive long after I'm gone. So it's always been important to me to support people however I can and make sure our team is as strong as possible, even if coaches occasionally get annoyed that I'm helping what they consider the competition.

Elizabeth Montavon

I really admire that in you. I'm very similar. If I have something that can help another athlete get better, I'm happy to share it. If you want my numbers, I'll give you my numbers. Because if you're better than me on my numbers, then I'm probably going to learn something from that. I align with that mindset completely. I've definitely had coaches ask me to be a little more competitive and actually want to beat the other women. But I want a strong women's field because it brings out the best in me. It makes all of us better.

On that note of growing the game, bobsled has had a huge spotlight moment because of you coming out of the 2026 Olympics. I'll admit it, I don't know everything about bobsled. But I come from a niche sport too, so I know what it's like to be deeply passionate about something that most people don't understand. What would you like to see for the future of bobsled and the winter sliding sports?

Elana Meyers Taylor

I'd love to see the sport gain more notoriety and recognition. I'd love to see it become more of a center-stage sport. I'd love to see bigger broadcast deals. I'd love to be able to turn on ESPN or NBC on a Saturday or Sunday and see a bobsled race being covered. But I also think we have work to do inside the sport itself. I'm an athlete in the sport and I'll be honest with you, I don't watch full races most of the time. Part of that is because I'm training and busy. But another part is that if you're not familiar with bobsled, a lot of the sleds look very similar. The competition is incredible, but if you can't easily tell what's happening or what makes one run different from another, it becomes harder to follow. We have to continue to innovate. We need to make the sport more appealing. We need to make it feel like something people actively want to watch. And I think that means getting creative with formats. Maybe it means mixed-gender teams. Maybe it means mixed-nationality teams. Maybe it means pairing one American sled with one German sled and creating new types of competitions. But we've got to be more creative if we want the sport to get the eyeballs it deserves.

Elizabeth Montavon

We're in a very similar boat. My sport isn't necessarily fun to watch for long periods of time either, but it's highly technical and incredibly interesting once you understand it. We're also in a position where we have to think differently about format and fan engagement if we want to grow.

What advice would you give to young athletes coming up through bobsled right now? Especially now that the sport has a bigger spotlight and an opportunity to capitalize on that momentum. What advice would you give to athletes trying to grow their brand and build a career in a niche winter sport?

Elana Meyers Taylor

I think the first thing is you have to find your brand. You have to discover what your brand actually is. I've been fortunate to have a really good team around me, but even early on I knew there were certain things that weren't going to be for me. There were certain lanes I wasn't going to fit into.

Some athletes build attention around appearance or fashion or things like that, and honestly, I've always been the type of athlete where you're lucky if I brush my hair before showing up somewhere. Now, later in life, I love fashion. I love watching the Met Gala and seeing athletes on red carpets and all of those things. But I knew that wasn't my brand. I wasn't going to appeal to some of those brands or audiences.

What I did know was that, especially after becoming a mother, there were brands and communities that aligned naturally with my life and my experiences. I knew I could authentically connect with parents and with moms. So that's where I focused my energy. That's what I would suggest any athlete do. I've seen athletes get it terribly wrong, especially in niche winter sports where it's not enough to simply win. You have to be a brand as well. I've seen athletes try to be something they're not because they think that's what people want from them, and it completely falls flat because it's not authentic. It's important to find your brand, but it's even more important to find your authentic brand.

Elizabeth Montavon

I think that's wonderful advice. You're right. A lot of athletes, especially younger athletes, spend time chasing what they think they're supposed to be instead of embracing who they already are. When you have the right team around you helping you see the best version of yourself and build around that, it changes everything. I read a quote recently that said if you're trying to beat everyone else, it's really difficult. But if you're focused on being the only version of yourself, nobody can win that game. I think you've done a phenomenal job of that. There is only one Elana Meyers Taylor.

Elana Meyers Taylor

Thank you. And I think another important thing is recognizing that not everybody is going to like you. You're not going to appeal to everyone, and that's okay. I think, especially as female athletes, we sometimes try to get everyone to like us. But that's just not realistic. If you're online long enough, you'll eventually post something completely harmless and still get attacked for it. You'll post a picture sitting next to sunflowers saying, "It's a beautiful day," and somehow people will find a reason to be upset about it. That's just the reality of being online. So you have to understand that you're never going to please everyone. As long as you're creating content and building a brand that you're proud of, something that reflects your actual values, you can walk away at the end of the day knowing you did your best.

Elizabeth Montavon

I completely agree. A really unfortunate example of that is an athlete in our community who is currently pregnant. She posted about some of the training she's doing while pregnant and received a comment from someone saying they hoped she would have a fatal miscarriage. She reported the comment and was told it didn't violate community standards. It's unbelievable and honestly pretty horrifying. But it really highlights how important it is for athletes to have some kind of barrier between themselves and those comments because they can be devastating. At the same time, social media is also one of the best ways to connect with fans and build community. Do you find that bobsled fans are active on social media?

Elana Meyers Taylor

Absolutely. The fans who love bobsled really love bobsled. And honestly, they know more statistics than I do half the time. What's cool is that when people really follow the sport and really follow your story, they become invested in your journey. They're with you whether you win or lose. They understand the intricacies of the sport. They understand that we're racing on ice and that anything can happen. Ice is slippery. Conditions change. There are so many variables. When people understand those things, they become some of the best supporters because they know how difficult the sport really is. When you have a bad race or a tough season, they're still there because they understand what's involved.

Elizabeth Montavon

Those are the voices we need to hear when things aren't going our way. Now, you've already mentioned how much motherhood has become a part of your brand. You have a very unique family story, and you've chosen to share quite a bit of that publicly. What's it been like sharing so much of your personal life while also being an athlete competing on the world stage?

Elana Meyers Taylor

Well, first of all, if you're thinking about having children because it will help your content or your brand, that's definitely not a good reason to have children. For me, it really started because I wanted to tell our story honestly. I wanted to talk about what it's like raising children with disabilities and some of the realities our family experiences that are different from what many other families experience. That includes everything from navigating healthcare systems to spending time in the NICU to managing specialists and appointments. When we received Nico's Down syndrome diagnosis, we were desperately searching for other families that looked like ours. At the time, there weren't many Black families publicly sharing experiences about raising children with Down syndrome. Fortunately, that's changed a lot over the years, and there are many more voices now. But that desire for community is really where everything started. Then bobsled naturally became part of the story too.

It's been really rewarding to share our experiences, but it's also become more complicated. Noah had a very viral moment during the Olympics. Now people recognize him. We'll be in the grocery store and people know who he is. When we're out in public, people recognize him before they recognize me sometimes. As a parent, that brings up a whole new set of concerns because you want your children to be safe. There are a lot of conversations happening right now about child privacy and what it means to share children online. We've always wanted to tell stories about disability and representation, but there are limits. As the boys get older, more of my content is shifting toward my experience as a mother rather than their experiences directly. Because ultimately, I have to balance sharing our story with protecting them.

Elizabeth Montavon

I imagine there isn't really a playbook for navigating something like that. You're balancing motherhood, advocacy, sport, public attention, and all of these different layers at the same time. One thing I'm curious about is whether raising children with disabilities has changed the way you view the Paralympic movement.

Elana Meyers Taylor

That's a really interesting question. Even before we had children, my husband was coaching Paralympic athletes. And even though I didn't grow up around many disabled people, I always felt a connection to the disability community through those experiences. For some reason, I always had this feeling that disability would become part of our family's story one way or another. I didn't expect both of my children to be disabled, but I always felt that connection. Training alongside Paralympic athletes has always given me an appreciation for how hard they work and what they accomplish. But now I understand things on a much deeper level. I understand what it looks like to navigate Medicaid. I understand what it means to spend hours finding specialists. I understand some of the challenges families face outside of sport.

So now when I look at Paralympic athletes, I still admire their performances, but there's a whole additional layer of appreciation. And honestly, my children could become Paralympians someday. Whether they do or not isn't the goal. My goal is simply for them to be active and enjoy sport. But if they choose that path, it's reassuring to know they're growing up in a time when things like pay equity between Olympians and Paralympians are finally improving. That matters.

Elizabeth Montavon

More people like you using their platforms to shine a light on the Paralympic movement and help others understand these experiences is incredibly important. You're setting such a powerful example for your children, not just in athletics, but in representation and advocacy.

Elizabeth Montavon

What's interesting to me is that you seem to juggle all of these different roles so effortlessly. How has motherhood impacted your ability to focus when you're in the heat of competition?

Elana Meyers Taylor

The biggest thing is that when I'm at training or competition, I know that's my opportunity to focus solely on that. So much of my life outside of sport is spent thinking about doctor's appointments, camp schedules, therapies, meals, bedtime routines, and everything else that comes with raising children. When I get to training, I have those few hours where I can focus entirely on what I need to do. And honestly, it's given me a new appreciation for the time I spend as an athlete. I don't have endless hours anymore. So when I do get that opportunity, I want to enjoy it. I want to embrace the challenge and the privilege of being able to compete. It narrows your focus because you're constantly pulled in so many directions outside of sport. Those few hours become incredibly valuable.

Elizabeth Montavon

I can absolutely see that. Something we talk about often at Parity is how athletic skills translate into professional skills, and I think you're a perfect example of that. Now, I want to talk a little bit about Milano-Cortina 2026. You come home to the United States as the most decorated Black Winter Olympian of all time. It's an incredible accomplishment and a monumental moment in your career. Given everything happening in the country right now, what was that experience like for you?

Elana Meyers Taylor

I think one of the most meaningful parts of the Games was that people seemed grateful to have something positive to focus on. There's so much happening in the world. Every time you open your phone, there's another headline, another challenge, another thing demanding your attention. Sometimes I open the news in the morning and think, "Okay, that's enough internet for today." So many people are struggling right now. The Olympics felt like a moment where people could take a breath. It gave people a chance to step away from everything else for a little while. In some ways, it's a form of escapism. But it's also incredibly unifying. You had athletes across Team USA who were really trying to represent the American people and support the American people. It wasn't about politics. It was about representing something bigger than ourselves. And that felt really powerful.

Elizabeth Montavon

That makes me really happy to hear because this moment was so well deserved. Do you feel like you were able to connect with the American people after these Games?

Elana Meyers Taylor

Definitely. It's honestly been kind of surreal. The reception to my win, especially seeing me celebrate with the boys at the bottom of the track, was something I didn't fully understand at first. I didn't see the complete NBC package while everything was happening. Later, NBC sent me the full feature, and when I watched it, I was crying too. That's when I really understood why people were connecting with it. People would come up to me in airports and start crying. They'd tell me how much they loved our family or how much the story meant to them. At first I didn't really understand because, in my mind, I had just won a bobsled race. But after seeing how the story was presented, I understood that it meant something much larger. It wasn't just about winning a gold medal. It meant something to the deaf community. It meant something to the Down syndrome community. It meant something to mothers. It meant something to parents raising children with disabilities. The reception has been incredible. And while we still have a lot of work to do as a country, the Olympics reminded me that we're all trying to build something better together.

Elizabeth Montavon

Sport is so powerful like that. Beyond where you're from, what language you speak, or what you look like, sport has this unique ability to bring people together. You were absolutely one of the shining lights of these Games, and it was incredible to watch. My husband and I were both crying watching those moments with your sons. Well, Elana, I think it's time for our final segment: The Last Lap. If you were the answer to a sports trivia question, what would you want that question to be?

Elana Meyers Taylor

This is always funny because people ask if they can include this in introductions. The question would be: Who is the oldest Winter Olympian to win an individual Olympic gold medal? And the answer is me.

Elizabeth Montavon

That is an absolutely badass answer.

Elana Meyers Taylor

What's funny is that before I won, the record belonged to an Austrian athlete who had won his gold medal just a couple of days earlier. So he technically held the record for a few days. Then I broke it. Which is kind of perfect.

Elizabeth Montavon

You never have to apologize for breaking a record. We'll let him keep "oldest male Winter Olympian." That's fair.

Elana Meyers Taylor

Exactly. He can have that one.

Elizabeth Montavon

Elana, it has been such a pleasure having you on the show. Before we go, give us thirty seconds on what's next for you.

Elana Meyers Taylor

More events. I'm really focusing on growing my speaking career and doing more motivational speaking, public speaking, and leadership presentations. It's something I've always done to help support my bobsled career, but now I'm approaching it more intentionally and more professionally. I'm excited to see where that takes me. And honestly, the next big thing on the calendar is SHE Weekend. I'm excited to head down to Las Vegas with Flavor Flav and celebrate all of the female Olympians and Paralympians from the Games. That should be a lot of fun.

Elizabeth Montavon

I'm so glad you're going to be there. I'll be glued to your Instagram Stories. For anybody who wants to follow along, what's your Instagram handle?

Elana Meyers Taylor

@ElanaMeyersTaylor

Elizabeth Montavon

That's our girl. Everybody go follow Elana Meyers Taylor. Elana, thank you so much for joining us today. It has truly been an honor.

Elana Meyers Taylor

Thank you. I appreciate it.