Douglasville Bobsledder Makes History at World Championships

Sign up for the Douglasville Patch newsletter!

-----

Trail-blazing bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor continued piling up accolades over the weekend.

The Douglasville, Ga. native partnered with Cherrelle Garrett of Hayward, Calif., to become the first American women to win a World Championship bobsledding title Saturday in Winterberg, Germany. Meyers also was the first U.S. bobsled driver, male or female, to win a World Championship gold medal on a track outside of North America.

“I am overwhelmed with emotion right now, I am so happy,” Meyers Taylor said in a news release from USA Bobsled & Skeleton. “It all came together thanks to great coaches, teammates and staff. Everybody worked so hard to get this, and I’m just so grateful and thankful.”

RELATED

• Bobsled History: Elana Meyers Taylor to Compete in Four-Man Event
• Did Georgia Bobsledder Strike Olympic Gold in Sochi?
• Douglasville Native Ready to Repeat as Olympic Medalist

Meyers Taylor and Garrett were .43 faster than the rest of the field after the competition’s four runs, which concluded Saturday.

Their win was the 10th World Championship medal in women’s bobsled for the U.S. since the women’s division was started in 2000. It was also the fourth World Championship medal for Meyers Taylor.

Meyers Taylor is apparently getting used to making history.

Already a two-time Olympic medalist in women’s bobsled, she and Canadian Kaillie Humphries became the first women to compete in the four-man bobsled in a World Cup event, when they both piloted sleds in December races in Calgary, Canada.

Meyers Taylor has been dominant this season, winning six of the eight World Cup races, and five victories were with Garrett as her push athlete. Meyers Taylor was the first U.S. women’s bobsled pilot to capture the overall World Cup title since Jean Prahm, formerly Racine, clinched the crown in 2001.

“I don’t think I can really grasp it all yet,” Meyers Taylor said in the news release. “I’m always focused on what’s in front of me, and it’s just amazing, I can’t believe it. To have such a strong program and be able to contribute to that history is really amazing. I can’t really put it into words right now, I’m just overwhelmed.”

(Photo: Elana Meyers Taylor of Douglasville. Credit: USA Bobsled & Skelton/Neil Zeller Photography)