American Elana Meyers Taylor became the oldest female driver to win a world bobsled championships medal with a silver in the monobob on Sunday.
German Laura Nolte, the Olympic two-woman gold medalist, repeated as world champion in the monobob by the slimmest margin in the three-year history of the event.
She edged Meyers Taylor by 18 hundredths of a second combining times from four runs over two days in Winterberg, Germany.
Meyers Taylor, 39, was tied for third place after three runs, then had the fastest final run. She was on maternity leave the previous season after having son Noah in November 2022.
“I am extremely happy with the silver medal after being away for a year and having my second son,” Meyers Taylor said, according to the International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation. “But I have a great team around me with my teammates and staff, my husband is here, my father came in. And my nanny, I could not have done any of all this without her. This is incredible. I am so over the moon about this medal today.“
German Lisa Buckwitz earned bronze.
Meyers Taylor broke the age record set by German Sandra Kiriasis, who was 38 when she won the last of her world medals in 2013.
She is the oldest driver among men or women to win a world medal since 41-year-old German Christoph Langen in 2004.
Meyers Taylor returned to international bobsled in December for the first time since winning her fourth and fifth Olympic medals in February 2022.
So far this World Cup season, she notched one runner-up and a pair of third-place finishes between the monobob and two-woman events.
Meyers Taylor won her first world two-woman title in Winterberg in 2015 and last made a world podium in 2017.
She is one shy of the U.S. Winter Olympic female record of six medals held by speed skater Bonnie Blair. It’s a record she can break in 2026 with two women’s bobsled events on the Olympic program.
American Kaillie Humphries, who won monobob’s Olympic debut in 2022, is out this season on pregnancy leave and expected to return ahead of the 2026 Winter Games.
Later Sunday, Francesco Friedrich and Alexander Schüller led a German sweep of the two-man medals.
Friedrich, a 33-year-old who plans to retire after the 2026 Olympics, extended his records with an eighth two-man title and a 13th title overall when including four-man.
Frank Del Duca and Manteo Mitchell were fifth, matching the best finish for a U.S. men’s bobsled at worlds in 11 years.
Next weekend at worlds are the two-woman and four-man competitions.
