YANQING, China — Elana Meyers Taylor was back in control of her sled — and her life — on Sunday as monobob made its Olympic debut at the Beijing 2022 Winter Games.
But the Team USA bobsled pilot, who has won three Olympic medals, is still suffering the after-effects of her COVID-19 positive test on February 1. Meyers Taylor was put in isolation for five days and separated from her son, Nico, who was born with Down Syndrome, as well as the rest of her family. Nico will turn 2 on February 22.
“It’s been really challenging,” said Meyers Taylor, who was voted one of the Team USA flag bearers, but was unable to march with the team. “I think yesterday was the first day I didn’t bawl my eyes out at some point.”
Meyers Taylor, 37, was released on February 5 after two negative tests.
“Isolation is not a good place for anybody,” she said. “Everybody who’s been through it knows, but especially when you’re at the Olympics, when you’re supposed to be at your peak with all your ducks in a row, everything just feels like it’s crumbling. You lose all sense of control. You can’t even open your door, you can’t choose what you want to eat. You can’t chose anything,
“And especially as a bobsled pilot, you’re used to having that control. On top of it, my son was taken away from me. To spend now an extended amount of time away from my son, that was the hardest part.”
Meyers Taylor said she hadn’t spent more than nine hours away from Nico in the past and had to send bottles of pumped breast milk to him. “My son’s a trouper,” she said, “With all his disabilities I didn’t know how he would be being way from me and that’s why I always feel the need to have him really close to my heart. But he’s handling it like a champ. He misses his mommy, he misses his daddy, but he’s a trouper, he’s the greatest kid in the world.”
She also was apart from her husband Nic, also a bobsledder, and her father. They were quarantined even longer than she was, getting out February 9.
“This entire journey has been a family mission the entire time, " Meyers Taylor. “So now to be away from them at the most critical time when I needed their support the most has been really difficult.
Meyers Taylor, who has won two Olympic silver medals and a bronze, set a track record at Yanqing National Sliding Centre with a start time of 5.61 seconds on her first run. However, she made mistakes on both trips.
Meyers Taylor was tied for after the first heat and fourth after the second. Although she was back in her sled in time for official training, she missed the paid training runs that some of her competitors enjoyed.
“Even though I got the training runs, my head is so foggy from everything we’ve been though,” Meyers Taylor said. “I’m just now coming out of the clouds. To be able to think clearly, I’m going to sleep well tonight and get after it tomorrow.”
The third and fourth runs will determine the medalists. Kaillie Humphries, the Canadian gold medalist who attained U.S. citizenship, is the leader with a combined time of 2:09.10. She set the track record of 1:04.44 with a top speed of 123.30 km per hour.
Christine de Bruin of Canada is next, 1.04 seconds behind, while Laura Nolte of Germany is 1.22 seconds back. Meyers Taylor is just .10 seconds behind Nolte.
“It was really awesome to be able to get out there and race today, Meyers Taylor said. “I really tried to just enjoy myself. I drive my best when I enjoy myself. But it’s been really difficult to get there, really difficult … to feel like you’re yourself again. But I’m slowly but surely starting to get there.”
She credited her solid support team.
And, she added, “The way I look at it is it’s just a blessing to be out here. It wasn’t a given. There are people who have suffered from COVID-19 for a long time and just not able to clear protocols, let alone the rest of the world that struggles with COVID-19. This is definitely way different than I imagined it and my most challenging Games so far.”
Meyers Taylor will also compete in two-woman bobsled later this week.
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