Most-decorated U.S. woman at Olympics at last wins gold

American bobsledder Elana Meyers-Taylor, 41, on Monday won her first gold medal while competing in her fifth Winter Olympics. Meyers-Taylor has the highest medal count among American female winter athletes, with three silver and two bronze medals from the Olympics dating back to 2010. She also has four World Cup wins. Meyers-Taylor nabbed her first gold in women’s monobob, a single-person event. She also set a track record time of 59.08 seconds during one of her competition heats. She trailed behind Germany’s Laura Nolte for three of the heats, but was quick enough in the fourth heat to have an overall faster combined time, according to the Olympics website.

How did Meyers-Taylor react to her win? She thanked the people who sacrificed to allow her to train and compete, including her two sons, husband, parents, and nanny. She finally broke through after so much hard work, she said.

What’s next for Meyers-Taylor? She will next compete in the 2-woman bobsled event, the category in which she earned most of her past medals, alongside teammate Jadin O’Brien. Their first training heat for that event takes place on Tuesday.

Dig deeper: Read Liz Lykins’ report on the disqualification of a Ukrainian athlete over gear depicting war dead.