The partnership of Elana Meyers and Lauryn Williams gave the bobsled Olympic event at Sochi their all. It wasn't enough to win the gold. They missed the mark for that by only 10/100ths of a second.
But they are happy with the results anyway. Their wins mean that for the first time, the U.S. has had two sleds winning medals
Meyers, from Douglasville, Georgia, was the driver. She walked away with a silver medal. She is the first American female bobsledder to win multiple medals at the Olympics.
Meyers started bobsledding in 2007, ending up on the national team in her first season. She won her first World Cup medal in 2008. Later she won a gold medal for the World Cup in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada.
She won silver at the World Championships. At the 2010 Olympics, she won a bronze medal, once more in Whistler.
In a Runnersworld.com article by Peter Gambaccini, after winning her silver medal, Meyers was reported to have said, "it’s about going out there and giving everything you can to fight for your country. We couldn’t be happier with that."
Williams, from Rochester, Pennsylvania, was brakesman/ pusher. She won a silver medal for bobsledding at Sochi.
She is the first American woman to win medals in more than one sport for Summer and Winter Games. She is the fifth athlete to do so. This is a nice addition to the gold medal won in London, 2012, and her silver medal attained for doing the 100 meters in Athens, 2004.
This was Williams' first year to be in a bobsled.
Williams won a gold medal in Helsinki at the World Championships. She won silver medals in the World Indoor 60 m and the U.S. Championships in 2006. In Osaka at the 2007 World Championships, Williams won a silver medal in Track and Field.
She retired from Track and Field in 2013, and moved on to bobsledding. Within her first week as a bobsledder, she came in third at Calgary, Alberta Canada's U.S. National Push Championships.
Williams said that her goal at Sochi had been to help Team USA and she believes she succeeded in this. She was quoted by NPR.org as saying, "It wasn't about the medal for me. It's all about the journey."
“I never imagined I’d be here six months ago, but here I am,” Gambaccini reported that Williams said. “I had no expectations coming into this and it’s always about helping first, and then everything you get to enjoy along way is just extra.”
Looking back on the Sochi experience, Meyers was quoted by NPR.org as saying, "It's been an incredible journey."
Sources:
Canada Rallies Past US For Women's Bobsled Gold. NPR.org. Retrieved Feb. 20, 2014.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=279671543&ft=1&f=
USA claims silver, bronze in women's bobsled. USA.Today.com. Retrieved Feb. 20, 2014.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/sochi/2014/02/19/elana-mey...
Lauryn Williams and Elana Meyers Earn a Silver in Olympic Bobsled. Runnersworld.com. Retrieved Feb. 20, 2014.
http://www.runnersworld.com/olympics/lauryn-williams-and-elana-meyers-ea...
Elana Meyers. TeamUSA.org. Retrieved Feb. 20, 2014.
http://www.teamusa.org/Athletes/ME/Elana-Meyers
Lauryn Williams. Lauren-Williams.com. Retrieved Feb. 20, 2014.
http://lauryn-williams.com
Visit Jody's website at http://www.ncubator.ca
Reviewed February 21, 2014
by Michele Blacksberg RN