Meyers Taylor and Evans take two-woman bobsled victory in first team trials race

Photo credit: Molly Choma

PARK CITY, Utah (March 3, 2021)– Three-time Olympic medalist Elana Meyers Taylor (Douglasville, Ga.) teamed with Olympic bronze medalist Aja Evans (Chicago, Ill.) to win the first two-woman bobsled national team selection race today. This was Evans’ first race since the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, where she finished fifth with Jamie Greubel Poser. The last time Meyers Taylor and Evans raced together was during the 2013-2014 season, when the duo claimed five World Cup medals.

“I’m super excited to race with Aja again and for her return to the sport,” Meyers Taylor said. “It’s been awhile since we raced together. She’s back and in great shape, and I’m happy with how we performed today.”

Evans officially retired in December 2020, deciding to focus on life outside of the sport. It was during that journey that she realized she was ready to come back.

“I needed to retire in order to give myself space to figure things out,” Evans said. “I gained confidence to pursue other things to see where my passions lie, and in that process I figured out that I’m not just Aja the Olympian. It’s all of these things that make up who I am. My passion and purpose in sport aligned with my life off the ice, and I’m so excited to be back.”

Meyers Taylor and Evans were dominant from start to finish today with the fastest push times of 5.15 and 5.16 seconds, and the quickest downtimes of 49.22 and 49.20 seconds, respectively. The duo finished nearly half a second ahead of the field with a combined time of 1:38.42 to claim the first win of the 2021-2022 USA Bobsled National Team Trials.

“I’m still trying to figure out how to balance two-woman and monobob,” Meyers Taylor said. “For me, it’s hard coming out of pregnancy and into this long of a season, but you do what you have to do to prepare for next season. I’m just trying to put together solid runs each time I go down the track and making improvements.”

Brittany Reinbolt (Searcy, Ark.) and Colleen Fotsch (Scottsdale, Ariz.) were second across the board with nearly identical starts of 5.41 and 5.42 for runs of 49.43 and 49.46. Reinbolt and Fotsch finished in second place with a two-run total of 1:38.89.

Nicole Vogt (Dallas, Texas) and Emily Renna (Fairport, N.Y.) clocked a cumulative time of 1:39.10 to finish third. They pushed off the block in 5.44 and 5.46 seconds for runs of 49.61 and 49.49 seconds.

Kaillie Humphries (Carlsbad, Calif.) earned a bye with her world championship win last month. Per the criteria, she must participate in team trials as a forerunner and will be officially named to the 2021-2022 national team by the selection committee going into next season. Sylvia Hoffman (Arlington, Texas) pushed for Humphries today.

Racing continues tonight with the skeleton competition at 5:30 p.m. MST. A four-man bobsled race will take place at 12 p.m. tomorrow, followed by the women’s monobob competition at 2 p.m. MST.

Please contact USABS Marketing & Communications Director Amanda Bird at 518-354-2250, or amanda.bird@usabs.com, with media inquiries.

 

Results

 

1. Elana Meyers Taylor and Aja Evans 1:38.42 (49.22, 49.20);

2. Brittany Reinbolt and Colleen Fotsch 1:38.89 (49.43, 49.46);

3. Nicole Vogt and Emily Renna 1:39.10 (49.61, 49.49);

 

About USA Bobsled & Skeleton

USA Bobsled & Skeleton (USABS), based in Lake Placid, N.Y., is the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton in the United States. For more information, please visit the USABS website at www.usabs.com.

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