ATLANTA — In 2002, Vonetta Flowers became the first African American and the first Black athlete from any country to win a gold medal at a Winter Olympics.
Now, Elana Meyers Taylor, a bobsledder from Douglasville, hopes to follow in her footsteps and win gold in Beijing.
In a conversation with 11Alive's Cheryl Preheim, Flowers spoke on how excited she was to see Taylor in action during this year's games.
"She's such a great athlete competing in fourth Olympics, so we'll definitely be cheering for her," Flowers said.
The gold-medalist added that it means so much to have athletes like Taylor looking up to her because, at the time she competed, there were not any women athletes of color competing in the sport.
"Growing up, I was in track and field and I wanted to be like Jackie Joyner-Kersee," she added.
Flowers concluded by saying to have someone like Taylor, who wants to follow in her footsteps, is nothing short of a blessing
She is a woman who broke barriers, with her family watching as she made history.
Her grown sons still look on as their mom, a world champion Olympian, continues to inspire.
As for Taylor, she tested positive for COVID shortly after arriving in China for days - marching symbolically in her room on Friday for the Opening Ceremony after her U.S. teammates had chosen her as a flag-bearer.
However, she recently announced on Saturday that she was clear to compete at the 2022 Winter Olympics following a second negative COVID test.
She is a strong hopeful for gold in the monobob event making its debut at the 2022 Winter Olympics, after an electric 2021-22 Bobsleigh World Cup season in which she beat out her chief rival, fellow American Kaillie Humphries, for the monobob championship.