Elana Meyers Taylor: A 20-year journey to gold

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Hello, I'm Lee James, and you're listening to the documentary podcasts from the BBC World Service.

Today I'm bringing you a bonus episode of more than the score, the podcast that scours the globe

to tell sport stories from beyond the score sheet. Earlier this year, Alana Mayer's Taylor

became the oldest ever winner of an individual Winter Olympic gold medal. The 41-year-old American

triumphed in the Women's Monobop, a single-person bobslay event, at her fifth Olympic Games,

having never previously reached the top step of the podium. She's also the most decorated

black athlete in the history of the Winter Games, winning six medals across her career.

But she's more than just an outstanding athlete. She's a mother of two sons, both of whom are

deaf. Her eldest son, five-year-old Nico, also has Down syndrome. One of the most emotional

images of the Games saw her celebrate with her sons at the finishing line, using sign language

to explain what had just happened. She has also been an outspoken advocate for black athletes,

women, and mothers in winter sport throughout her career. I spoke to Alana for more than the score

earlier this month, about her 20-year journey to Olympic gold, and started by asking her what

the her achievement had sunk in yet. No, I had this conversation with my husband the other day,

like it still feels like I'm in some kind of fever dream or something, like it still doesn't

make sense that this actually happened, and everything that's happened since even makes less

sense. So, you know, we've been on quite a little bit of a tour, going around and sharing

my story and sharing the medal and everything like that, and yeah, everything that happens makes

even less sense now. So, you'll show your medal. Let me ask you, first of all, it's round your neck

right now. What does that mean when you look at that Olympic gold medal? Oh my gosh. It means

don't, like it stands for so much hard work, but not just by me, but by my family, by my kids,

by my nanny, by my friends, by everybody. Like, it took so much to get this. Like, it's just

incredible to actually have it and actually have done it like it's just as unbelievable.

You know, it's 20 years in the making going for it and trying and not succeeding in the gold

medal stance, you know, getting other medals, but it just symbolizes so much and so much not

just for me, but everyone around me. Yeah, we saw your two boys at Nico and Noah after you just won

the gold. In fact, when you found out, that was an incredibly emotional moment, and I

imagine, Alana, to have your friends and your family, your children around you at that time

must have been very special. Oh, it was super special. And I'm not quite sure how it happened. I

don't know that I want to know because usually people aren't really allowed on that dock,

but I'm super glad the kids and my nanny, at least, was able to be up there and share that moment

because, you know, they're the ones who sacrifice so much to help me get there. They're

to sacrifice everything to help me be at that sport. And that's why I came back to Bob. So,

it's like, there by reason, I came back because I wanted to show them that even if the world tells you

you can't do something that you can, that you can go after your goals and you could pursue them.

So to have them there at that moment and to be able to explain to them what was going on and

share that with them, like, it was really special. And also, I'll have that, like, at the time,

they didn't really know what was going on. I was trying to sign to them and explain, but I'll have

that memory to share with them for the rest of their lives and, or the rest of my life and be able

to tell them exactly what happened and show them video now. Absolutely. Yes. Nico and Noah are both

deaf. Nico has Down syndrome as well. And you use signs and you'd explain then what that moment

was like then and the deaf community prepared you as well for that and helped you along with the

signs that you would need. Yeah. So actually, I'd reached out to one of them, the woman I worked

with Stacy and the guy you'd at university and she had actually showed me all the bobs that

signs we actually made a video in it. And I was working with them and trying to show them the

signs and everything we would need to know. And I never knew if we'd actually get to use it,

but to actually be able to use the sign champion was pretty cool and the gold medal was actually

pretty cool. So I was super excited to use them and super excited that we had actually got over

them. Absolutely. And that support that you've obviously got from US team, from your friends,

from your family to make all this possible to go through those day-to-day challenges that we

all experience when raising children, but to do that whilst traveling to compete and to maintain

an elite career. Yeah, it's been a whirlwind and there was definitely times where I thought it was

impossible, but the team around me lifted me up. I mean, there was one day, one night in Norway where

the kids weren't sleeping and like I was so tired and like it's just, you know, one of them got sick

and I was just like had it up to there and I was just like, this is impossible. We need to just

pack it up and go home and the whole time my husband's reassuring me, he's like, no, you're okay.

We got this. You're okay. We're going to figure this out. You're okay. And then the next thing,

you know, he hops on a flight to Norway for me and comes out and even like a couple days with the

kids and help out and everything like it was just incredible to have him there and to know how

much support I had that in a moment's notice that he'd hop on a flight from anywhere in the world

to come join me. Well, you're the first mother to win Olympic Bob Slay Gold. You hope it will encourage

more mothers to continue in the sport to prove that it can be done to show you don't have to stop

living your dreams. I did not even think about that, but that's pretty cool. Yeah, I think even

when I had my first son and I was successful after Beijing and had the two medals in Beijing,

I think it already encouraged mothers that they were still possible, you know. I hope this

continues to show that that you can continue to compete later in life too as a 41-year-old,

but also as a mother too. So I hope it encourages more women to continue support after they've

had children or after they started a family if they want to, but also there's some real barriers

that exist. So I was on the road with my kids from November 1st all the way through the games,

so it's not cheap. It's very expensive and that's all self-funded by myself. So those kind of

barriers still exist, like finding an Indian and doing all those things. It's still extremely

difficult, but hopefully the more and more women that have done it, the more and more barriers

that are let go and the more and more possible, it actually becomes. Did motherhood, Alana,

ever change your approach to the sport? You are competing in a sport that can have significant

consequences if something were to go wrong. You've had to battle through injuries, the pain,

concussion, you've suffered. Did it ever change your approach once you became a mother?

It changed my approach and that my perspective has changed. So the most important thing isn't now

whether I win or lose a pops out of race. It's making sure that kids are taking care of

making sure they're happy, healthy and everything's okay. And from a mental perspective,

like I've definitely less risk averse or more risk averse. Yeah, more risk averse that I used to

be because I just need to make sure the kids are taken care of and I learned that the best way I can

take care of them is making sure I'm taken care of myself. So whether it's making sure my nutrition

is on point, making sure everything is on point. So when I get in the sled, I can be safe as well.

Whereas before, you know, it's like you don't think about as much as, especially because of 20

year old, like you're 20 years old or something happens, you can take a nap and you'll feel better.

As a 41 year old, like I know I've got to be as sharp as possible to get in the sled to not only

keep myself mentally fit, but also physically fit because if I have a little injury, like this

season, I've been battling with the back injury all season long. And what that resulted in is I'm like,

not physically able to pick up my kids, which is a problem because they need a lot of care,

especially my older one with Down syndrome, like I need to be able to pick him up to move him to

change diapers, all this kind of stuff. So it's definitely changed how I approach the sport,

because I've just got to take care of myself that much more because I'm responsible for the

aliveness to humans. And given the challenges that they will have to overcome during their

lives, it's important as well to show your sons what is possible when people perhaps tell you

know to show that you can make things happen. Oh, without a doubt, especially because they

are going to face challenges that I know nothing about. Like I am a non disabled elite athlete.

Like, of course, I've had my own challenges, but I don't have hearing loss. I don't have Down syndrome.

So I'm not going to be able to even fully understand the challenges they're going to face or have

already faced. Like for them, even that young age trying to figure out, how do you sign

language or how do you just cochlear implants or all these different things they've already

overcome? Like it's, it's just been incredible. So yes, I definitely want to show them that

you can go after your dreams. And more importantly, like, yes, we need gold medals. Great,

but I wanted to show them that you have the power to get knocked down, but stand back up. And

that's what I've done the entire time. Like this season was terrible. Like I finished 19th in the

test of it for the race in Quartina. And so to come back from that and to struggle through the

entire season and to finally result in a gold medal after all this time. And the most improbable

times, like I definitely want to see the highs, but also the lows as well. And your gold medal

resonates a lot of far beyond the sliding tracks. As you've discussed there as a mother

racing children with disabilities, particularly within the death and Down syndrome communities,

as the most decorated black athlete in Winter Olympic history, where athletes from diverse backgrounds

have historically been underrepresented. You say you've taken your gold medal around and shown

people what has been the response to you then from from the people you've met towards it?

Oh, it's been incredible. You know, even coming home, we were at the airport and a woman

runs up to me screaming and she's giving me the biggest hug and she's so excited because

the medal meant so much to her. You know, I'm not sure what her backstory was, but to have that

kind of reaction and that meet people and then start crying and tearing up and stuff like that.

Like it's been incredible. I didn't like even some of those moments that meant the most of

people like me sitting there with my kids and signing and and all that stuff. Like it was just

generally in that moment, it was generally parent moment. Like I just wanted to tell them that

their ball was okay. That we had done this really cool thing or like just some of the stuff

people have told me and that they've been encouraged to do whether it's go back to school or take

on a new job, especially the parents of kids with disabilities. Like they've told me all these stories

and it's just been jaw dropping. Like I couldn't imagine like I was able to inspire people to do

those types of things. So it's been really cool. The reception has been really great and I'm excited

for the rest of the reception. Like we haven't even we're just scratching the surface. We haven't

even got started for all this stuff. We have to plan the next couple months.

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You're listening to the documentary podcasts from the BBC World Service. I'm Lee James and this

is a bonus episode of more than the score where I'm talking to the American Bob Slay pilot,

Alana Mayas Taylor, about her 20 year journey to the top of the Olympic podium.

You've always used your platform Alana as well in 2020. You wrote about racial inequality,

social injustice. You've spoken about your own experiences of racism during your life, whether

that was in softball being told that black people don't play shortstop. You belong in the

outfield or in Bob Slays, led manufacturers not wanting to sell to black pilots. You said,

no amount of Olympic medals or at least the ones I've won thus far can save you from experiencing

racism. How do you reflect on that on that now? Six years on from what you wrote.

It's kind of crazy because in Dakis, we've slept manufacturers and things like that,

like that hasn't changed. It still stands true. But I think the positive things that we've seen

is there is more diversity in the sport. And I'm not just talking about black and white. I am a

person who just wants to see the best people in the world be able to have opportunities to compete

whatever they look like, whatever background they come from, wherever. So it's been really

encouraging to see a lot of different people get in the sport because you know it's truly

representative of the best in the world. If we're just focusing on one demographic,

like we're only getting a subset of the world, so we're not getting a full representation

of what this sport could be. So I've been really encouraged to see the diversity grow,

not just in the US, but across the world. Like now we're seeing teams who look more like

the world population. And that's been really awesome to see. And I hope that continues to grow

because I think it just makes our sport that much better. And it makes it more entertaining

when you have different people. People who look like you that you could root for.

Yeah, you've shown that you might look different or come from a different background,

but you can still achieve great things in winter sport. You want obviously that to be open

to everyone. Does it feel like the Winter Olympics is more welcoming now than for black athletes?

It definitely does feel like it's more welcome. But I think we still have significant barriers

to overcome in terms of the finances of it, in terms of the accessibility of it. Like not everybody

lives near a mountain to be able to learn how to ski or go to Bob sledding or something. I mean,

in Great Britain, they don't have a track and those types of things. So it's still very inaccessible.

And then the finances to make it accessible are still astronomical. So we still need to do more work

on that end. I think Bob sled itself has done a lot to try and make it more accessible. Like within

the model Bob sled. Now that's the sled that there's relatively inexpensive compared to the other

disciplines and also everybody has the same type of sled. So it's a more of an even playing field

and those type of things. So it's definitely come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.

I mean, even what I've been told now, I took my son in Norway skiing and it was like $100 total,

like for passes for us ski equipment and instructor, all this kind of stuff versus what I've been told

and I haven't tried it in the U.S. ski passes are like over just one lift pass is over $300

once, which is this incredible and like that is not that many people could afford that. Like I

couldn't afford that for my family of four. Like it's $1200 just for lift passes and that's

without any equipment. So we still need to come a long way in terms of accessibility, but I think

we're starting to get there and people recognize that it's a problem. And what do you think in particular

yourself as a black athlete, winning an Olympic gold medal in a winter sport can do because you

tackled in 2020 and you've spoken before about the prejudice that you've personally received.

Can that help in any way to show what you have achieved and hopefully that won't be around in

the sport? Oh, without a doubt. And I also think more and more people of diverse backgrounds

getting into higher powers within the sport. I mean, you have Nicola Menichello who was a world

champion. Now she's starting to work up the ranks and you have more and more women working up

the ranks within the sport of Bob's lead, whether it's on the IBSF or whether it's in their own

national federations, like I think it's great. And they're able to not only be those positions,

be those diverse positions in those different roles, but also recruit and make sure the sports

more accessible in every level. And that's what I intend to do as well. Like for me, it starts with

the very basic separate recruiting and making sure that athletes we come in are the best

that we can possibly find and not worrying about where they come from or what they look like.

So it starts to the very basic level getting the talent within the sport and then growing it

from there. So hopefully we're able to do some more and more of that and also able to increase

the amount of population, the diverse population that's in the higher ranks within the sport as well.

And we've discussed Alana in the past as well about the impact that climate change is having

on your sport and on the planet. We've seen during the winter Paralympics, the snow disappearing

from the hillsides around Cortina daytime temperatures, reaching double figures in

in Celsius, traditionally at a time of the year when snowfall can be at its heaviest. So it's

had a direct impact on the winter Paralympics. Are we seeing the consequences then of what we

are going to have to deal with because of climate change? Oh, without a doubt, like our season and

Bob's that there's definitely gotten shorter. Our ability to be on ice is now

got went from October to late March to now. We're looking at November, late November,

and ending in February. Like that's how short our season has gone. So you cut off a month on each

side. It definitely changes the sport and definitely changes the talent within the sport as well.

And the Paralympics, like I really feel bad for those athletes here just watching and seeing,

you know, yesterday or two days ago, they had to deal with rainy conditions and the ice

and not the ice or the snow is really soft and just all those conditions that they have to face,

like it's just I could feel their frustration because it doesn't make it the even playing field.

It's like, oh, who chose the best in skiing sports? Who chose the best wax instead of who's

actually the best athlete on the snow and ice? So it's definitely affected winter sport and it's

definitely something like as winter athletes, we have a special like placing our hearts for

fighting for green practices and those types of things because of how it affects our sports so

much. But it's a problem that everybody should be concerned with like it just happens to be on the

world stage in winter sport. You can see it directly. You could see how much not having a longer

winter season is affecting all of us. And is there a concern that enough is not being done with

the back of winter Paralympics? They've not been staged any earlier than the first half of March

this century. So it's not the timings that have changed, but the climate here, are you concerned

enough isn't being done? Oh, without a doubt. I mean, especially within my own country, you know,

I have a very environmentally conscious person and we have to start to do more things to make sure

we, as a nation, are just taking care of the environment and making sure that we have green

practices, making sure that we live in our greenhouse gases and these types of things and right now,

there's definitely more that we could be doing and definitely more we could do is worldwide.

And your future, Alana, is it still in the sport of Bob Slay? It's been a huge part of your life

for so many years now. Does the gold change anything? It does and it doesn't. My age changes,

changes things more than anything and the fact that we were able to win a gold medal at 41 is

is incredible, but my back doesn't know the difference. My back doesn't realize I've won a gold medal.

So, you know, I don't, I know it won't be my last time in this lead. I know I'm going to continue

sliding, but what that looks like, we'll see, because sliding on America's Cup or Europa Cup level

is different from the World Cup level, which is still different from a Olympic level. Like, you

know, so we'll see what we're able to do over the next couple of years and see what's best for

the kids as well. Like that's also a factor. I'm getting older, but also they're getting older,

so they're going to start to have their own interests, their own passions. Like, I think we're

going to go play T-Ball here at a week or so. So, we're going to start getting involved in youth

sport and see what that has to offer. So, it's also going to be important to realize what's

best for them and that's going to change over time. Like, is it best for them to be on a Bob Slay

Tour for six months out of the year? We'll see. So, all those factors are going to kind of start

to come into play. And then if I'm not competing, we'll see what this sport holds for me off the ice.

I'm not going to coach because coaching is extreme. Coaches is like the same thing I do. Like,

it's six months on the road. You're not necessarily with your family and all this kind of stuff,

so I was like, if I'm going to coach, well, I might as well keep sliding. So, coaching probably

isn't in my future, but we'll see. You never know. And what about the future for your sons,

then? Getting into sports and if that led them to winter sports and led them to Bob Slay one day,

how would you feel about that? Oh, Bob said, I was like, yeah, you need to be old enough. You need

to be adult to make this decision. But we've always tried skiing skiing was not a hit. He loved

the man who carpet Noah did. But so far, we're not skiers. But I do want to get both of them on skates.

So, I do want to get both of them speed skating or I'm too afraid to put them in hockey. So,

that's the mother's heart there. I don't think hockey is for us, but I guarantee if my youngest Noah

sees hockey. And we have watched we've watched Sudahockey recently. And we've watched little hockey

at the games. I feel like he gets on ice and gets the chance to play hockey. He's actually going

to love it. So, I'm a little afraid there, but I definitely want to get them in a speed skating

oval and see if they have any interest in it. Get them on the skates, get them on the ice,

and let's see what happens in the future. Alana, it's been a pleasure talking to you. Your

platform of an Olympic gold medal. You've already outlined how it will change things. Just finally,

then, what do you hope it will allow you to do? The biggest thing is, like, I'm a mother first,

right? And so, my biggest mission in this world is to make sure these two boys are taking care of.

So, I'm going to do whatever I can to continue to advocate for people with disabilities,

including the deaf community and the Down syndrome community. And, you know, in the US,

what that looks like is making sure they have access to health insurance and making sure

they have access to the same rights as you and I. And, you know, a lot of people with intellectual

disabilities aren't even allowed to marry in the US because if they marry, they lose their benefits.

Stuff like that. Like, I'm going to continue my platform to fight for them,

fight for everyone to have access to American Sign Language interpreters and things like that

because that's my number one mission in this world is to take care of these two little boys.

And that means fighting to make sure they have the access and the resources they need to track.

Well, Alana, we wish you the very best for whatever comes next. It's been a pleasure to talk to

you and to see that gold medal around your neck. It's been a pleasure to win it and a pleasure

to speak with you as well. So, always a great time talking with you.

You've been listening to the documentary podcast with Melee James

and a special bonus episode of More Than the Score. My thanks to our guest, Alana Myers-Taylor.

You can find more interviews, discussions and insight from the world of sport

by following and subscribing to More Than the Score, wherever you get your podcasts.