BEIJING, China — Competition has started at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
It's an exciting, yet challenging time as organizers and athletes navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.
Four-time Olympic bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor from Douglasville, Georgia is one of the many athletes experiencing that pressure. Taylor was chosen to carry the American flag for Team USA in the Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony, but now she can't do it. Just a day before that announcement and two days after arriving in China, Taylor learned she had tested positive for COVID.
Though asymptomatic, she was immediately sent to isolate at a hotel.
11Alive's Cheryl Prehiem spoke one-on-one with the world class athlete.
"I'm doing alright," she said. "I'm currently in isolation still, but I'm asymptomatic, my family's asymptomatic, so we're doing well."
Taylor's husband, Nic, was named as an alternate on the men’s bobsled team. They couple has a son named Nico.
Taylor's training and chance at competing in this year's Olympic Games all depends on whether or not she receives two negative PCR COVID tests while isolating. She's got positive news on Thursday.
"I got one negative test yesterday," Taylor said.
She added that she took another test Thursday and has yet to acquire the results.
"Even tough I had a negative test yesterday, it's still not for certain, because we've seen people have a negative test and then have a positive test and back-and-fourth," Taylor continued. "But it does mean the levels of the virus are lower in my body, so we're getting closer."
Taylor called the new update "encouraging."