Team USA star Elana Meyers Taylor finally got her gold, with the decorated 41-year-old bobsledder winning Monday's monobob event to top the Olympic podium for the first time.

Though Germany's Laura Nolte led the competition through its first three runs, a few skids allowed Meyers Taylor to edge her out, with the US star putting together a near-perfect final pass to secure the come-from-behind victory by just 0.04 seconds.

"I didn't need it, but I wanted it," Meyers Taylor said afterwards, finally adding Olympic gold to her three silver and two bronze medals.

Completing Monday's podium was Meyers Taylor's teammate and 2022 gold medalist Kaillie Armbruster Humphries, with both US bobsledders returning to the sport's highest echelon with children in tow: Meyers Taylor gave birth to her second son in 2022, while Humphries became a first-time mother in 2024.

"I grew up in this sport and would hear, 'if you have kids, once you get to 40, it's all downhill,'" said the 2026 bronze medalist. "Elana and I get to be proof that's not true."

Already the most decorated Black athlete in Winter Olympics history, Monday's win also made Meyers Taylor the oldest individual Winter Games champion.

Even more, with six career medals across the last five Olympics, her elite consistency has her tied with speed skating legend Bonnie Blair for the most medals earned by a US woman at the Winter Games.

"In 2010, at my very first Games, we had team processing, and we had a bunch of Olympians come and give us encouragement, and [Blair] was one of them," said Meyers Taylor. "I was just starstruck to even meet her. And now, to be in the same sentence as her, that just doesn't make sense."

How to watch Elana Meyers Taylor at the 2026 Winter Olympics

Both Meyers Taylor and Humphries will likely compete in this week's two-woman bobsled event, a race both have medaled in multiple times at previous editions of the Winter Games.

The first two-woman bobsled heats will begin at 12 PM ET on Friday, before the final two runs start at 1 PM ET on Saturday, with all four heats airing live on NBC.

Every Wednesday in February, JWS celebrates Black History Month by spotlighting a prominent Black figure in women's sports history.

More than 20 years ago, Team USA bobsledder Vonetta Flowers changed the Olympics forever, becoming the first Black athlete — in any sport, from any country — to win a Winter Games gold medal when her team topped the podium in Salt Lake City in at the 2002.

Originally a standout sprinter and long jumper at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Flowers turned her track and field dreams into bobsled success by transitioning to become a brakeman for the 2002 USA team, earning gold in the inaugural Olympic women's bobsled event alongside driver Jill Bakken.

After giving birth to twins, Flowers returned to the bobsled track to compete with driver Jean Racine-Prahm and the pair raced to bronze at the 2004 World Championships before finishing sixth at the 2006 Turin Olympics.

Retiring after the 2006 Games, Flowers blazed a trail for Black women in winter sports all the way to Team USA's 2026 flag bearer, Olympic champion speed skater Erin Jackson.

The 2022 US flag bearer, 41-year-old bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor — already the most decorated Black athlete in Winter Olympics history before competing in her fifth straight Games this month — counts Flowers as an inspiration.

"Vonetta Flowers is the reason I'm here," Meyers Taylor said after winning both silver and bronze in Beijing in 2022.

"It's just been such a long legacy of Black athletes at the Winter Olympics and hopefully it just continues."

Team USA is coming in hot, releasing their full 232-player 2026 Olympic roster as the largest US contingent in history gears up for February's Winter Games in Italy.

"Right and left, we have just so many people able to get on the podium at these Games," said speed skater Erin Jackson, as she gears up to defend her 500-meter gold medal in her third Olympic appearance. "I'm really excited."

Between the men's and women's events, 98 of the participating US athletes are returning Olympians, including 33 previous podium finishers — 18 of them gold medalists.

Even more, seven members of Team USA are entering their fifth Winter Games, including decorated alpine skier Lindsey Vonn, hockey captain Hilary Knight, snowboarder Faye Thelen, and bobsled teammates Kaillie Armbruster Humphries and Elana Meyers Taylor.

"I think my age is a big advantage actually," Vonn told reporters. "I have been in that start gate more than anyone else that's in the starting gate."

Meanwhile, the 134 fresh faces will look to have an immediate impact on the Olympic medal table for Team USA, including athletes like 20-year-old Stanford soccer defender and US cross-country skiier Sammy Smith and 15-year-old halfpipe freestyle skiier Abby Winterberger — the youngest member of the 2026 US roster.

How to watch Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics

The 2026 Winter Olympics officially kick off in Italy on February 6th, though a few events — including curling and women's hockey — will get underway on February 4th and 5th.

Full live coverage of the 2026 Olympic Games will air in the US across NBC platforms.