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 podcast 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 Monobob, 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. It still feels like I'm

in some kind of fever dream or something. It still doesn't make sense that this actually happened,

and everything that's happened since even makes less sense. 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,

everything that happens makes even less sense now. You're showing 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 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. It took so much to get this. It's just

incredible to actually have it and actually have done it. It's just unbelievable. It's 20 years

in the making, going for it and trying and not succeeding in the gold medal stance, 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, Nico and Noah, after you just won the gold. In fact, when you found out,

that was an incredibly emotional moment. I imagine Elana 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 sacrifice everything to help me be at that sport and that's why

came back to Bob. So it's like, they're my 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, it was really special and also I'll have that

they get the time. They didn't really know what was going on. I was trying to sign to them

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 had 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 on. 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 had 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 sport

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

some real barriers that exist like so I was on the road with my kids from November first all

the way through the games. So it's not cheap like it's very expensive and that's all self-funded

by myself. So those kind of barriers still exist like finding a nanny and doing all those things

is 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 alone ever change your approach to the sport? You're 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 bobsaw race, it's making sure that kids are taken care of because you're

they're happy, healthy and everything's okay. And from a mental perspective like I'm 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 learn 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 a sled I can be safe as well. Whereas before

you know it's like you don't think about as much as especially like as a 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 a 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 live as two humans. And given the challenges

that they will have to overcome during their lives is it 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 a young age trying to figure

out how do you sign language or how do you use 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 the season was terrible like I finished 19th in the test of

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

um you know even coming home we were at the airport and a woman runs up to be screaming and

and she's giving you 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 mom was okay that we had done

this really cool thing or like just some of the stuff that 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's 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

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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 write it's kind of crazy because in that case we're sledding manufacturers and

things like that like that hasn't changed like 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 about and to be able to learn how to ski or go to Bob's letting her something damn 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 finance is to make it accessible or still astronomical so we still need to do more work

on that in I think Bob's let 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 have been trying it in the US ski passes are like over just one lift passes over $300

once which is this incredible incredible and like there's not that many people could afford that

like I couldn't afford that for my family afford 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 Minicelo 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 said 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 the 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 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 they're 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 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 of what we are going to

have to deal with because of climate change well without a doubt like our season and the Bob

Center is 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 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 place in our hearts for fighting for green practices and those types of things because

of how it affects our sport so much puts 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 that 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

but the climate here are you concerned enough isn't being done oh without a doubt I mean especially

within our own within my own country you know I 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 in 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 changing things more than anything and the fact that we

were able to win a gold medal 41 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 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 big

I do like it six months on the road you're not you're not necessarily with your family you know

all this kind of stuff so I was like if I'm with a 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 win to 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 on skates

so I do want to get both of them speed skating or I'm too afraid to put them in hockey and 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 Sudahaki 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 you're 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 taken 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 helping

sure and making sure they have access to the same rights as you and I you know a lot of people with

intellectual disabilities aren't even allowed to marry in the US because if they marry they'll lose

their benefits like 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 thrive

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 me Lee 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