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In a nail-biting, four-heat race that boiled down to a contest against a pair of top German sliders, Americans Elana Meyers Taylor, 41, and Kaillie Humphreys, 40, secured gold and bronze medals Monday night on the icy track in Cortina.

Meyers Taylor came from behind in the fourth and final heat, gliding and banking cleanly into the steep curves and dropping smoothly into the track's straight-aways to win her first career gold.  

"I'm super excited to finally have a gold medal and to have worked so hard all these years," Meyers Taylor said.  "I was super grateful to be able to put the pieces together and finally have a run that I could walk away very proud with."

With this win, Meyers Taylor, who has two sons, built on her record as the Black athlete with the most Olympic medals in Winter Games history, with a gold, three silver and two bronze. 

Humphries, who gave birth to her son in 2024, now has 3 Olympic gold medals and 2 bronze. 

"I'm so proud to be able to represent the United States and put my best foot forward. That's what we did today," Humphries said.

This is the pair's second Olympics in a row to find their way to the podium in the single-person "monobob" race, in which a single athlete pushes and then steers the bobsled down the track.  

, Humphries won gold in the event.  Meyers Taylor tested positive for COVID-19 and was forced to train while isolated in her hotel room.  She was cleared just in time to race and captured silver.  

The two women are also widely credited with helping convince the International Olympic Committee to add the women's monobob event to the Winter Games, bringing the sport into parity with men's events. 

"The women before me have allowed this to happen and I want to make sure that continues for all future generations," 

Both women have spoken publicly about the challenges they've faced building careers as elite athletes while also parenting.  Humphries was diagnosed with endometriosis and underwent IVF treatments before her child was born.

"I got back in the bobsled 4 1/2 months postpartum, so it wasn't the ideal timeline," Humphries 

"It's been quite a bit on my body," said Meyers Taylor, citing years of breastfeeding, lack of sleep, back pain, and getting older. "But I wouldn't trade it for the world."

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American sliders Elana Meyers Taylor, 41, and Kaillie Humphreys, 40, secure gold and bronze medals. Meyers-Taylor built on her record as the Black athlete with the most Winter Olympics medals.

Two U.S. moms in their 40s rocketed to gold and bronze in Olympic bobsled showdown

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