Meyers Taylor sets medals milestone

Laura Nolte and Mariama Jamanka added to Germany’s record haul of Olympic medals. Elana Meyers Taylor of the United States extended her medal record, too.

The German sliding domination of the Beijing Games continued, with Nolte driving to gold and Jamanka earning the silver in the women’s bobsled competition. Meyers Taylor, in possibly her last race, grabbed the bronze for the fifth medal of her Olympic career.

That’s more than any Black athlete in Winter Olympics history, the most by any women’s bobsledder at the Olympics and two more than any other Olympic bobsledder, male or female, has won for the U.S.

“That is overwhelming,” Meyers Taylor said. “It’s so crazy to hear that stat and know that I’m part of a legacy that’s bigger than me.”

Nolte and Deborah Levi won with ease, finishing four runs in 4 minutes, 3.96 seconds. Jamanka, the 2018 Olympic champion, and Alexandra Burghardt were second in 4:04.73. Meyers Taylor and Olympic rookie Sylvia Hoffman were third in 4:05.48.

The U.S. team of monobob gold medalist Kaillie Humphries — battling a right leg injury that adversely impacted her start times — and Olympic rookie Kaysha Love finished seventh in 4:07.04.