02/18/2026
What an amazing story! 🤩😍
You probably don’t know Olympic gold medalist Elana Meyers Taylor.
But I bet you’ve seen her in the school pick-up line.
She’s the mother crouched on the sidewalk, adjusting a backpack strap across small, anxious shoulders.
She’s the tender hand holding a little one outside the preschool door.
She’s the working mom calculating practice schedules and therapy appointments and to-do lists in her head while smiling like she’s got it all under control.
Elana Meyers Taylor may be an Olympic bobsledding champion—but she’s all of us.
Elana and her husband, Nic (a fellow bobsledder—the two met through the sport) have two young sons, Nico and Noah. Five-year-old Nico was born with Down syndrome and is deaf; three-year-old Noah is also deaf.
This year, they’re experiencing the Olympics together.
After her gold medal run, Elana had to wait while the last competitor—in the lead entering the final run—made her way down the icy track.
When the German crossed the finish line just 0.04 seconds behind her, Elana collapsed in tears.
Seconds later, her boys were in her arms.
The crowd was roaring.
“Mommy won,” she signed in ASL.
Even if you know next to nothing about bobsledding (raising my hand here) you could feel the love that moment held.
At 41, she became the most decorated Black female athlete in Winter Olympics history, with six medals across five Games. She’s also the oldest woman to win Olympic gold in her sport.
Incredible, for sure.
But if you ask her what matters most, I have a feeling it’s not that gold medal around her neck.
It’s the arms wrapped around it.
Just under two weeks ago, Elana posted a photo in Milan—Noah on her hip, Nico in a stroller. “In 16 days, I’ll be back to school drop offs and pick ups, in lines with parents who have no idea who I am or what I did just a week ago,” she captioned the image. “We’ve all worked so hard to get here—and that was half the battle. Who knows what will happen over the next 16 days but I’m excited to find out—and I’m excited that we get to do this together as a family. So here’s to making the next 16 days count!”
You sure did, Elana.
We’ll see you in the pick-up line.
-Her View From Home
-Image, IBSF - International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation
