BEIJING (AP) 鈥� U.S. bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor has, finally, made it to the Olympic track.
The worst of her is behind her 鈥� she鈥檚 testing negative now, as are her husband and young son 鈥� and the three-time Olympic medalist was able to participate in the first official session of women鈥檚 monobob training on Thursday.
鈥淲e鈥檝e seen a lot of people struggle to clear the tests, so I really wasn鈥檛 sure what would happen,鈥� Meyers Taylor said. 鈥淔ortunately, I think my family and I got a pretty weak strand and we were all able to clear, but there are some people who don鈥檛 clear for 90 days 鈥� so it was no given at all.鈥�
Meyers Taylor had not been on the ice at the Yanqing Sliding Center since this fall, and before Thursday hadn鈥檛 been in a sled since the final World Cup race of the season in St. Moritz nearly a month ago. Most of her fellow women鈥檚 bobsled Olympians had been on the ice last week for several runs of unofficial training, but Meyers Taylor was quarantining and couldn鈥檛 join them. She also had to give up her role as one of the U.S. flagbearers for the opening ceremony because of her virus-related issues.
But she got the all-clear on the testing front over the weekend, was able to leave the isolation hotel for her regular room in another hotel 鈥� she鈥檚 not in the Olympic Village because her son is in Beijing with her 鈥� and now is on track to compete starting Sunday in the inaugural Olympic monobob competition. The women鈥檚 two-person bobsled event is later next week.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 ideal. Definitely not the greatest to not be able to have those extra trips, especially because this is a very technically challenging track,鈥� Meyers Taylor said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 some really great competitors from top to bottom. You see through the time sheets that some people have figured it out more than others and I only have four more runs to figure it out. It is what it is, but I鈥檓 going to do the best with it that I can and make the most of it.鈥�
Meyers Taylor was fifth in the first training run Thursday, 10th in the second run. Training times are often not a true indicator of how drivers stack up against the rest of the field, with teams often trying out different setups and gauging data before determining what will work best on race day.
It has been a daunting few weeks for the U.S. bobsled program. Meyers Taylor tested positive, as did fellow U.S. women鈥檚 pilot 鈥� and fellow three-time Olympic medalist 鈥� Kaillie Humphries. Brakeman Josh Williamson didn鈥檛 arrive in Beijing until Wednesday because he tested positive at a team training camp in California. And many of the team鈥檚 coaches were in a similar situation to Williamson, their departures from the U.S. delayed by positive tests.
鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to have the whole squad back together and we feel like a family again,鈥� U.S. brakeman Hakeem Abdul-Saboor said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been great.鈥�
Meyers Taylor passed the time in isolation by doing makeshift workouts in her room, aided by weights and other equipment the team brought over. She even did some sprints, as much as one can sprint in a less-than-sprawling hotel space.
鈥淚 had no idea what was going to happen,鈥� Meyers Taylor said. 鈥淚 just was praying that I鈥檇 have a chance.鈥�
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Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
