You might not expect that someone born in a town called Oceanside—a palm tree-dotted place perched along the coast in California—would end up being an Olympic bobsledder. But Elana Meyers Taylor never has been one to do the expected.
The fact that Meyers Taylor’s family moved to Douglasville, Georgia, about 20 miles west of Atlanta, when she was a kid doesn’t seem to make it any more logical that she would eventually take up a sport that involves careening down a twisting, turning, icy track in a 350-pound sled at top speed.
In fact, Meyers Taylor was a softball player—a serious one. She played all the way through college at George Washington University and joined a pro team. She tried out for the Olympic softball team—a tryout she later called disastrous. Some people would’ve taken that as a defeat. After all, her dreams of becoming an Olympian and years of hard work had ended in failure. Meyers Taylor chose, instead, to pivot.
And it was a big pivot. Her parents tossed out the idea of bobsledding, and Meyers Taylor decided to give it a whirl. She got in touch with a coach, got herself a tryout, and converted the strength and speed she’d cultivated in softball into unbelievable success in a whole new sport.
Not only would she make the Olympic team, but she would become the most decorated female Olympic bobsledder of all time and the most decorated Black winter Olympian in history. And she wouldn’t just win a medal, she’d win six of them over the course of more than 15 years, encompassing five Winter Olympic Games. At this year’s games, she won the gold.
Along the way, she’s faced down plenty of challenges, including physical injuries and bouts of racism. She is married to fellow Olympic bobsledder Nic Taylor, and the two are parents to two young sons, both of whom are deaf, and one of whom has Down Syndrome, so her heart is in it when she speaks up for disability rights and inclusion. Her heart is in it when she advocates for female athletes. And her heart is most definitely in it when she speaks about overcoming obstacles, setting goals, and believing in yourself. And that will be the subject of her talk at Texas Lutheran University on September 15 at 7 p.m. in Jackson Auditorium.
The event is part of the 2026–27 Brown Cultural Event Series, sponsored by the Jessie S. and Jack Harold Upton Brown Cultural Enrichment Endowment Fund. Meyers Taylor’s talk will be followed by a meet-and-greet. This event is free and open to all.
