BEIJING, China — Elana Meyers Taylor is using her son Nico as inspiration at the 2022 Winter Olympics, and she's even found a subtle way to take that inspiration onto the track.
Taylor competed Saturday night in the first two heats of the women's monobob event, and the event will conclude Sunday night with the final two heats.
Heading into Sunday night's action, she sits in fourth place with a strong chance to jump into the medals. As she prepares to compete, see if you can catch the homage to her son she brings with her.
On Saturday night NBC's Olympics account pointed it out: A little sticker with an illustration of her son on her shoe.
As the Peacock TV account pointed out in the replies: "Who knew a shoe could be so cute."
Elana Meyers Taylor Olympics basics
- Event: Women's monobob, Heats 3 and 4, tonight at 8:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. (9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. Monday morning in Beijing)
- Where she stands: Fourth place, with a cumulative time of 2:10.42. The monobob event takes the four times from all four heats and adds them together at the end for a cumulative time. The fastest cumulative time wins. Currently she's just .1 seconds behind third place.
- How to watch: It will air on NBC's Olympic primetime coverage, or you can stream it via NBC here
Nico, who will be 2 years old soon, has been a to his mother and his father, Nic Taylor, who is also a bobsledder. Nico was diagnosed with Down syndrome. Elana also said her son was deaf in both ears when he was born and he goes to the Atlanta Speech School. Elana said she’s learned from her son what strength really means.
“He’s has had challenges in his short life and he is so resilient,” she said. “He inspires me and makes me want to be a better person every day."
Recently, doctors surgically implanted a device to allow young Nico to hear. And with help from the Atlanta Speech School, he is starting to hear the world around him and learn to engage with it.
The mom, who is still breastfeeding, recently shared that she's leaned on her husband, her son, and her dad every step of the way to the Winter Games.
She said "..and near or far (and even in isolation in China), I know I always have their love and support as a source of strength."
With Nico on her shoe, she can keep that source of strength close as she glides down the track in search of an Olympic medal.