It’s not every day that you get to meet Olympians, but for us it was March 20, 2024. It was then that I joined my daughter Liz and granddaughter Adeline up in Lake Placid where they had gone for a ski vacation.  

As I wrote back then, “Their trip to Lake Placid coincided with the World Cup competition of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) which organizes all the sliding events seen in the Winter Olympics. This includes Men’s and Women’s Skeleton, and 2- and 4-Man Bobsleigh, 2-Woman Bobsleigh, and Women’s Monobob.” Because of the congeniality of Jen Mott, head of Athlete Relations at the Mt. Van Hoevenberg site, our experience was extraordinary.

Liz and Adeline ran into Jen the day before I arrived, and she proceeded to show them all around the site, driving them up the steep hill to start of the sliding course to watch the practices. When I arrived, we ran into Jen again, and she continued her hospitality, introducing us to various Olympic athletes.

Jen introduced us to Olympian Elana Meyers Taylor. With a total of five medals, she was, at that time, and remains, the most successful Black athlete in the Winter Olympic history, competing in both Monobob and two-woman Bobsleigh.  Little did we know that in the 2026 she would add Olympic Gold to her accomplishments! She is now tied with Bonnie Blair as the most decorated woman athlete in Winter Olympics. She is also the mother of two adorable special needs children whom you might have seen during her award ceremony. We are keeping our fingers crossed that Elana gets to carry the US flag at the Olympic Closing Ceremony.  As the most decorated Black athlete in the Winter Olympics history, she certainly deserves this honor.

Back in the lodge at Mt Van Hoevenberg in March 2024, we saw a group of folks go by with an enormous cowbell.  The cowbell’s owner introduced herself to us as the mother of Team USA Skeleton athlete Austin Florian. She told us all about Austin’s career in Skeleton and introduced us to him when he came in the lodge.  Even better, he gave Adeline the bib from his race. He was the Pan American Champion of the competition that day.

Austin made the 2026 USA Olympic team and recorded the fastest start times in Skeleton in these games.  He finished out of the medals but was very pleased with his performance which was a mere 3.26 seconds behind gold medalist Matt Weston of Great Britain. It’s mind-blowing to see how tight these competitions are!

What a thrill to cheer for these two exceptional Olympic athletes and remember our brush with greatness in Lake Placid. Go Elana and Austin!