USA bobsleigh veteran Meyers Taylor wins elusive gold

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO (Italy) (AFP) – American bobsleigher Elana Meyers Taylor finally struck Olympic gold at the age of 41 in the Milan-Cortina Games on Monday.

She took the monobob title ahead of Germany's Laura Nolte and her fellow American Kaillie Armbruster Humphries.

Meyers Taylor was overjoyed after ending her long wait for gold, having until now accumulated three silvers and two bronze medals collectively in monobob and two-woman bobsleigh over four previous Olympics, starting at the 2010 Vancouver Games.

Armbruster Humphries, who competed for Canada until the 2018 Olympics, boasts the most impressive record in her sport with three Olympic golds and five world titles but had to settle for gold.

With Monday's gold, she's also tied speed skater Bonnie Blair for the most medals by a female US Winter Olympian. Speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno, who earned eight medals across three Winter Olympics, holds the overall top spot for US Winter Olympians.

Meyers Taylor is also now the oldest American woman to ever win gold at the Winter Games.

"I'm feeling great. I'm a little tired, the adrenaline's wearing off a little bit, but I'm super excited to finally have a gold medal and to have worked so hard all these years," Meyers Taylor said.

"At the end of the day, I have great support behind me, starting with my husband.”

Her husband Nic Taylor is a former Olympic bobsledder.

"My husband's been there every step of the way telling me I could do this."

"I love going fast and I love being able to control this thing that should be out of control, that should be uncontrollable," she told CBS News before the race. "It's just so much fun to me and when you hit the curves right and when you're gliding, it feels like being a superhero."

Meyers Taylor also competes in two-woman bobsled.

Last year, she took home bronze in the world championships. Overall, she's earned 10 medals across her years competing in the world championships.

Meyers Taylor originally had hopes of competing in the Summer Olympics as a football player, but told CBS News she "had a disaster of a tryout." Her parents, who'd seen bobsledding on TV, suggested she give it a shot.

A mom of two, Meyers Taylor is also an advocate for children who have disabilities. Both of her sons, Nico and Noah, are deaf and Nico also has Down syndrome. In addition to training for the Olympics, she's also juggled normal parenting responsibilities and learning sign language.

In November, Meyers Taylor told CBS News that when all the training is done and she's in race mode, "I don't think about anything. My mind goes completely blank, and I'm just fully in the moment, fully present. And I think that what keeps bringing me back is there's very few times in life that you can be that present."