Bobsled star set to return
U.S.’s Meyers Taylor to exit isolation, begin prep for monobob competition
U.S. bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor said Saturday she was about to leave isolation and could start preparing in earnest to compete at the Beijing Olympics.
Meyers Taylor said on NBC’s “Weekend TODAY” that she wouldn’t be in isolation much longer.
“I’ll be leaving tonight, which is the morning for you guys, and headed to another hotel, so I can start the process of getting back into training and getting everything ready to race,” she said.
Meyers Taylor revealed Tuesday she had tested positive for COVID-19. She had to give up her spot as a flagbearer at the opening ceremony, but bobsled doesn’t begin until about a week into the Olympics. Women’s monobob official training begins Feb. 10, with competition beginning Feb. 13. Training for the two-woman event starts Feb. 15, with competition beginning Feb. 18.
So Meyers Taylor always had a chance to come back and compete. She posted a video on Twitter on Saturday, showing her lifting a huge barbell in what she called an “isolation hotel workout.”
“Fortunately I have a lot of friends internationally,” she said during her TV appearance. “They’ve been sending me notes on the track and doing different things like that. I also have tons of video from our coaches, who have just been doing everything they can to keep me engaged and keep me involved. So I’ve just been going over that as much as I can, watching video and doing whatever I can to stay ready.”
Meyers Taylor is the only woman to win three Olympic bobsled medals for the U.S.
Figure skating: Olympic favorite Kamila Valieva nearly eclipsed her own world record in the short program of the team event. That sends her Russian team into the lead heading into the men’s free skate later Sunday. The 15-year-old Valieva’s score of 90.18 points was just off the record of 90.45 points set just weeks ago at the European championships. The Russians moved into first place with 36 points, two ahead of Day 1 leader Team USA and seven ahead of Japan. Karen Chen took the ice for the Americans but made a couple of mistakes, including a fall on her triple loop near the end of the program. That left her in fifth place in the short program and cost her team valuable points.
Curling: Australia’s first Olympic mixed doubles team has pulled out of the Beijing Games after Tahli Gill returned a series of positive COVID-19 tests. The Australian Olympic Committee said it was trying to make arrangements to have Gill and Dean Hewitt fly home rather than having Gill remain in an isolation hotel. They will miss their final two games and finish 0-7 in round robin play.
Slopestyle: Zoi Sadowski Synnott won New Zealand’s first gold medal in Winter Olympics history, stomping down a pressure-packed run on her last trip down the mountain Sunday to win the title. Julia Marino of the U.S. won the silver.
Speedskating: China won its first gold medal of the Beijing Games, emerging victorious Saturday in short track speedskating’s mixed team relay in the event’s Olympic debut. Wu Dajing edged Pietro Sighel of Italy by .016 seconds — or half a skate blade — to claim gold. Hungary earned bronze. Qu Chunyu, Fan Kexin and Ren Ziwei joined Wu for the historic victory. The small number of Chinese fans at Capital Indoor Arena cheered.