Get to Know Elana Meyers Taylor

Three-time Winter Olympic medalist Elana Meyers Taylor is gearing up for her fourth Games. In mid-January, the 37-year-old qualified to compete in both the two-woman bobsled event, as well as a new Olympic event, the monobob. Meyers Taylor spoke to Scholastic News about the Olympics, which will kick off in Beijing, China, on February 4. 

Scholastic News: What do the Olympics mean to you?

Elana Meyers Taylor: I come from a military family. When I was younger, it was really a sense of pride to be able to represent your country in any form. And because the military didn’t seem right for me, representing my country in the athletic realm seemed like the next best thing. It’s always been an honor and privilege to do so.

The Olympics represent going out there and trying to do your best and doing so at the highest level possible. Walking in the opening ceremony with your teammates, that’s when you finally realize you’ve made it. You are an Olympian. Nobody can take that away from you, regardless of the outcome. You’re on the biggest stage, representing your country. 

SN: The monobob event was added to give women more opportunities to win medals. How do you feel about the level of equality in the Olympics?

EMT: I think we have a long way to go. I applaud the International Olympic Committee for taking the initiative to try and get more medal opportunities. I think we’re getting better with the gender equity as far as medal opportunities. But I think we still have to increase the participation numbers in all of women’s sports. 

The other thing that is severely lacking in the Winter Olympics is we just don’t have [enough] female coaches. If we have more female athletes, there will be more athletes who then get into coaching.

SN: What inspires you? 

EMT: My son is my biggest motivation. (Meyers Taylor’s son, Nico, will be two years old in February.) My goal is to show my son and other kids what is possible—what can happen if you go for your goals, regardless of all challenges. Yes, it’ll be great if I win a gold medal and that’s obviously what I’m going for. But I want to show them that it’s about more than just winning a gold medal. It’s about going after it regardless. It’s not about winning or losing—it’s about stepping to the start line and giving it everything I’ve got.

SN: What is one of your proudest moments? 

EMT: One of my proudest moments was making the four-man bobsled team [in 2014]. Racing with and against the men, and actually making the national team—that stands out because it was more than just about the sport. Even if it just changed the mind of a couple of bobsledders, it showed that women are more capable than you think. And women can be on equal footing with men. 

Hopefully some of the men I competed against will now encourage their daughters to go out there and [compete] alongside men, whether it’s in the classroom, or on the ice, or in the boardroom. I think the more opportunities that women are given or women earn, the better off we’re all going to be.

SN: How do you overcome challenges? 

EMT: I’ve overcome a ton of challenges. I think that’s normal for anybody going after a big goal. I’ve had concussions. I’ve had injuries. I arrived at the last Winter Games, in 2018, in a wheelchair because I had torn my Achilles (a tendon that connects the calf muscles to the heel). And to come away with a silver medal, that was the accomplishment of a lifetime. And it really goes to show you how great my team is around me. 

Sometimes we’re afraid to ask for help because we feel like it makes us look silly or it makes us look like we don’t know what we’re doing. There are people in your life that are positive influences. You’ve got great teachers, great classmates. And those are the people that you could look to when you’re going through challenges. The more we allow the people around us to help us, the more it’s going to help us reach our goals.

_{Note: The interview has been edited and condensed.}