Women’s monobob came down to the bare seconds on Monday.
Four hundredths of a second, to be exact.
Elana Meyers Taylor claimed her first ever Olympic gold medal in the second ever women’s monobob competition, edging Germany’s Laura Nolte in a thrilling finish.
Taylor, who went second to last of 20 racers in the fourth heat, posted a total time of 3:57.93 to take the top spot. Nolte went last and had the chance for the final say, but suffered a slight bump midway. She recovered strongly, but finished just shy of gold at 3:57.97.
Reigning champion Kaillie Humphries, who did her run before Taylor, logged a 3:58.05 time that was good for gold at the moment and also guaranteed her a medal. The now-American representee added a bronze to both her and Team USA’s tally.
Nolte, 27, had won gold in the two-woman competition in Beijing, while Taylor, 41, now has six total medals from the games.
Taylor, an Oceanside, Calif., native, has won four two-woman Olympic medals: bronze in 2010, silver in 2014 and 2018 and bronze again in 2022.
She claimed silver in the first monobob event in 2022, and did one better in 2026.
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