At 41, in her fifth Olympics, Elana Meyers Taylor hurtled down the Cortina track in a monobob1 and finally won her first gold medal. In that moment, she became the oldest champion in an individual Winter Olympic event. But more than a medal, her run shattered conventional ideas of what an Olympic champion can be.

She is no teen phenom; she’s a middle-aged mom who competes and wins long after most Olympians are expected to retire.

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