WEBVTT - Wrecking Each Other’s Sleds with Elana Meyers Taylor 0:00:00.800 --> 0:00:03.640 Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where our translucent 0:00:03.720 --> 0:00:06.480 winner body is finally starting to get a little tan. 0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:10.840 This Arizona sun is doing wonders for our vibes. It's Friday, 0:00:10.880 --> 0:00:13.160 February twenty eighth. On today's show, you'll hear from a 0:00:13.160 --> 0:00:15.360 true legend, one of the best Bob's letters in the world, 0:00:15.480 --> 0:00:18.000 Alana Meyers Taylor. We spoke a few weeks ago when 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:20.840 she was fresh off a World Cup Monobob Race victory 0:00:21.000 --> 0:00:24.080 and preparing for the upcoming IBSF bob Sled and Skeleton 0:00:24.079 --> 0:00:27.480 World Championships in Lake Placid. We talked winning after forty, 0:00:27.760 --> 0:00:31.040 racing after babies, two of them, meddling in a men's event, 0:00:31.240 --> 0:00:35.240 racism and sliding sports, and so much more. Now before 0:00:35.240 --> 0:00:37.199 we get to that interview, no length they need to 0:00:37.240 --> 0:00:39.680 knowe today, but we know we can't leave you hanging 0:00:39.720 --> 0:00:41.879 without a speed round of what to look forward to 0:00:41.960 --> 0:00:45.040 over the weekend. So in college hoops, we've got a 0:00:45.040 --> 0:00:47.960 big one Saturday night with number two UCLA hosting number 0:00:47.960 --> 0:00:51.040 four USC. The two teams met in early February, with 0:00:51.159 --> 0:00:55.120 USC sophomore Juju Watkins scoring a massive thirty eight points 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:57.800 to hand UCLA it's first loss of the season. Both 0:00:57.840 --> 0:01:00.800 teams are undefeated since so Saturday night, its contest is 0:01:00.840 --> 0:01:03.560 sure to be a good one. In Vib's Love has 0:01:03.600 --> 0:01:06.319 one game tonight and to tomorrow, and the PVF has 0:01:06.360 --> 0:01:09.200 double headers both Saturday and Sunday on the ice. The 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:13.399 PWHL's inaction on Saturday. In Pro Hoops Unrivals got a 0:01:13.440 --> 0:01:16.200 double header tonight with two more games tomorrow, and it's 0:01:16.280 --> 0:01:19.640 championship weekend for Athletes Unlimited. They'll crown the twenty twenty 0:01:19.640 --> 0:01:22.920 five AU Pro Basketball champion in Nashville, Tennessee on Sunday. 0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:26.640 We'll throw all those schedules. In our show notes, we 0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:29.319 got to take a quick break. Alana Meyers Taylor and 0:01:29.360 --> 0:01:43.480 Moore coming up next welcome back slices before our conversation 0:01:43.560 --> 0:01:45.959 with Alana Meyers Taylor, a black woman who is one 0:01:45.959 --> 0:01:49.320 of the best Bob's letters on the planet. Did you 0:01:49.400 --> 0:01:51.680 know that one of the first Bob's letters to put 0:01:51.680 --> 0:01:54.440 Team USA on the map was also a black woman. 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:58.200 That's right, y'all. It's time for an epic mashup of segments, 0:01:58.240 --> 0:02:01.240 not just our latest Black History Months Spotlight, but also 0:02:01.360 --> 0:02:07.560 the latest edition of Yes and okay, let's set the scene. 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:09.959 Back in the early two thousands, the US had never 0:02:10.000 --> 0:02:12.640 won a women's bob sled medal. In fact, no country 0:02:12.680 --> 0:02:14.440 had because it was one of the few Olympic sports 0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:16.960 left without a women's event. Then, ahead of the two 0:02:17.000 --> 0:02:18.840 thousand and two Winter Games in Salt Lake City, the 0:02:18.880 --> 0:02:23.600 International Olympic Committee added women's bobsled aka bob slay. Tomato 0:02:23.639 --> 0:02:28.000 Tomato Abiza Abitha enter Vanetta Flowers. She had an extensive 0:02:28.040 --> 0:02:30.520 track and field background as a sprinter and long jumper 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:34.000 and earned NCAA All American honors seven times at the 0:02:34.080 --> 0:02:38.000 University of Alabama, Birmingham. Flowers actually qualified for the US 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:41.480 Olympic Trials twice, first in one hundred meters in ninety six, 0:02:41.560 --> 0:02:43.639 then in long jump in two thousand, but she never 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:46.880 made Team USA and was just about ready to retire 0:02:46.919 --> 0:02:50.000 from competition when her husband Johnny, convinced her to try 0:02:50.000 --> 0:02:52.560 out for the bob sled team. She made that cut, 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:55.840 became the top US breakwoman, and raced with teammate Jill 0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:58.400 Bachin in the two thousand and two Games. The pair 0:02:58.440 --> 0:03:00.560 went on to win the first women's bob sled gold 0:03:00.600 --> 0:03:04.640 medal ever. Awarded. Flowers also became the first black athlete 0:03:04.639 --> 0:03:07.360 to win gold in an Olympic Winner Games. She actually 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:09.080 didn't know that until a reporter asked her about it 0:03:09.080 --> 0:03:11.560 after finishing the race. She said, quote, I hope this 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:13.320 won't be the end of it. I hope you'll see 0:03:13.360 --> 0:03:15.720 other African American girls and boys who want to give 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:17.720 winter sports a try, because there are not a lot 0:03:17.760 --> 0:03:21.480 out there. End quote. Flowers continued competing in bob's led events, 0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:24.320 winning a bronze medal at the four World Championships and 0:03:24.360 --> 0:03:27.360 finishing sixth that the six Olympics in turn in Italy. 0:03:27.720 --> 0:03:30.760 After six she retired from the sport. Flowers made a 0:03:30.800 --> 0:03:33.359 mark that can't be erased, and to this day, half 0:03:33.400 --> 0:03:35.600 of the US women's bob sled medalists have been black 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:39.760 athletes like Alana Meyers Taylor. So yes to new friend 0:03:39.760 --> 0:03:43.920 of the show, Alana, and to Vanetta Flowers, who paved 0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:45.920 or should I say plowed the way. 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:47.520 Yes and. 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:51.120 All right, y'all, now that you know some of the 0:03:51.240 --> 0:03:53.680 history of the bob sled, let's get back to the present. 0:03:53.720 --> 0:03:58.800 Here's my conversation with Alana Meyers Taylor joining us. Now 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:01.000 she's one of the best bob's sled in the world, 0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:03.360 hot off the heels of her first World Cup Mono 0:04:03.440 --> 0:04:07.840 bob race victory two. Actually, she's a five time Olympic medalist, 0:04:07.840 --> 0:04:10.480 winning three silvers and two bronze across four different Olympics, 0:04:10.480 --> 0:04:13.120 a nine time World Championship medalist, owning four golds, two 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:15.480 silvers and three bronze, and she's won twenty one World 0:04:15.520 --> 0:04:17.960 Cup races as of this recording. She's a graduate of 0:04:17.960 --> 0:04:19.880 George Washington University, where she was a member of the 0:04:19.920 --> 0:04:22.720 softball team. She's the most decorated black athlete in the 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:25.760 history of the Winter Olympics, an activist, a former president 0:04:25.800 --> 0:04:28.440 of the Women's Sports Foundation, Mom Tanico and Noah, and 0:04:28.520 --> 0:04:30.960 a former bride on say Yes to the Dress it's 0:04:31.040 --> 0:04:34.800 the money aka Alana Meyers Taylor. What's up a lotta 0:04:35.080 --> 0:04:35.520 that much? 0:04:35.680 --> 0:04:38.760 So I find it very funny you brought to say 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:41.080 yes to the dress. That's something most people miss. It's 0:04:41.080 --> 0:04:42.719 something I don't talk about much, but that was a 0:04:42.720 --> 0:04:44.320 good fine So I got. 0:04:44.120 --> 0:04:46.479 To find that episode. When I was getting ready for 0:04:46.520 --> 0:04:49.120 my wedding, I became obsessive about say yes to the dress. 0:04:49.120 --> 0:04:50.400 And then of course as soon as I got married. 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:52.120 I was like, I'm good now, but I've watched it 0:04:52.160 --> 0:04:53.440 a ton when I was getting ready. 0:04:53.600 --> 0:04:55.760 Yeah, so did I before I was audit and ever 0:04:55.800 --> 0:04:58.360 since I was audit up like, I'm okay, that's good. 0:04:58.400 --> 0:05:05.360 You're scarred from fourteen ou Clineman's okay. Most important question. First, 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:07.719 are you a Bob Sled or a Bob Sleigh kind 0:05:07.720 --> 0:05:08.000 of gal? 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:10.200 Bob Sled for sure. I mean, the rest of the 0:05:10.240 --> 0:05:13.359 world says Bob Sleigh. But we're American. We make up 0:05:13.400 --> 0:05:15.440 our own stuff all the time, So Bob Sled it is. 0:05:16.080 --> 0:05:19.560 Yeah, we're sticking with feet. Screw your meters exactly. We're 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:20.440 going to do it our way. 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:23.520 I prefer the meters, though, the meters. We've been doing 0:05:23.520 --> 0:05:27.360 this for so long Kilograham's meters. All the metric systems works. 0:05:27.160 --> 0:05:30.040 For me now, well, for sports, it's kind of necessary. 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:31.800 You know. I did track, so of course we ran 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:34.000 in meters and all the throws were in meters, so 0:05:34.080 --> 0:05:36.440 like all that stuff, it's hard to fight that one. 0:05:36.920 --> 0:05:38.760 But I like that you're sticking with Bob Sled. That's 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:42.400 very American of you. Let's talk about those most recent 0:05:42.440 --> 0:05:45.480 World Cup wins I mentioned You've had so much success 0:05:45.520 --> 0:05:48.400 across the Olympics and World championships, you've pretty much done 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:51.320 it all. But you hadn't won an international mono bob 0:05:51.400 --> 0:05:54.719 race that's the one person bob sledding event for female athletes, 0:05:54.800 --> 0:05:56.720 until just a few weeks ago in Saint Mort's when 0:05:56.720 --> 0:05:59.640 you won twice. Was that on a checklist? Was it 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:02.560 sort of hanging over your head? Is something you hadn't done? 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:06.200 No? Actually, because when I started monobob, and I didn't 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:09.120 start monobob until after I had Nico, so I think 0:06:09.160 --> 0:06:12.440 twenty twenty twenty twenty one was my first season doing it, 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:15.440 so it was a world series, it was just called 0:06:15.839 --> 0:06:19.000 something differently. So I had won event on that series, 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:21.120 the World Series, but never won a World Cup. And 0:06:21.160 --> 0:06:23.279 actually I didn't even know I hadn't never won a 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:26.080 World Cup, Like, I didn't really even understand the distinction. 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:28.359 So for that to be a stat and for that 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:30.960 to get announced last week, I was like, Oh, that's 0:06:30.960 --> 0:06:33.279 pretty cool. But also I think it's just pretty cool 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:34.960 because of how old I am, you know, to be 0:06:34.960 --> 0:06:38.000 able to do the solo monobob, you know, rely so 0:06:38.080 --> 0:06:40.760 much on your athleticism on top of your driving. So 0:06:40.800 --> 0:06:42.640 to be able to be forty years old and show 0:06:42.680 --> 0:06:45.159 that I could still win by myself was pretty cool. 0:06:45.200 --> 0:06:48.960 Feat that is pretty cool, and we love as we 0:06:49.000 --> 0:06:51.279 say on this show, we quote Diana Tarassi, old people 0:06:51.279 --> 0:06:56.360 have dreams too. What were the feelings heading in then, 0:06:56.440 --> 0:06:59.279 if it wasn't something you were aware you needed to 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:02.000 check off, was it just another race or was there 0:07:02.040 --> 0:07:04.360 this element of like, Okay, I'm over forty now I've 0:07:04.400 --> 0:07:07.080 got two kids, like this is every race is sort 0:07:07.080 --> 0:07:08.919 of an opportunity to continue to prove myself. 0:07:09.400 --> 0:07:11.880 It was a little bit of both, because I had 0:07:11.920 --> 0:07:14.920 been so close, Like it just seemed like all season long, 0:07:15.000 --> 0:07:16.960 things just weren't going right. And I knew I could 0:07:17.000 --> 0:07:19.520 win races still, I knew I could be at the 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:21.880 top of the podium, and it just felt like, you know, 0:07:21.920 --> 0:07:25.480 whether it was bad weather or bad circumstances or it 0:07:25.600 --> 0:07:28.000 just it felt like all the pieces just weren't coming together. 0:07:28.120 --> 0:07:30.200 So I was eager and I was frustrated. I've been 0:07:30.240 --> 0:07:33.040 frustrated the whole season. I was like, this luck's got 0:07:33.040 --> 0:07:35.720 to give eventually. And even in that track in State Moritz, 0:07:36.000 --> 0:07:38.080 like I had been driving really well, I'd been doing 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:40.120 really well at training, and then the first week they 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:43.000 were there, they actually canceled the race, and I was like, oh, 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:45.600 I've actually been doing really well on this track. So 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:47.880 I was really eager to get back there and be 0:07:47.960 --> 0:07:50.400 able to have those opportunities to race Mono Bob again 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:52.760 because I knew I could be successful on that track. 0:07:52.800 --> 0:07:55.640 In particular, I knew like it was only a matter 0:07:55.640 --> 0:07:57.720 of time before the pieces came together and I could 0:07:57.760 --> 0:07:59.000 show that I could win again. 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:02.240 Talk about the monobob. It was just added a few 0:08:02.320 --> 0:08:04.720 years ago for those who aren't familiar with the sort 0:08:04.720 --> 0:08:07.040 of ins and outs of Bob's led. For nearly a century, 0:08:07.080 --> 0:08:09.240 men have competed in the two man and the four 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:12.280 man events, and women just got their first Olympic bobsled 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:14.760 event the two women in two thousand and two, and 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:18.160 then the second the monobob was added twenty twenty two. 0:08:18.280 --> 0:08:19.680 Or did you start in twenty twenty one? 0:08:20.200 --> 0:08:23.160 Actually they started doing it on the lower level circuit 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:26.880 in after the twenty eighteen Olympics, so right after that 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:29.400 year they'd started, but not on the highest level. So 0:08:29.680 --> 0:08:31.760 I was competing on the highest level with two man, 0:08:31.840 --> 0:08:34.400 so I just never had the opportunity until it finally 0:08:34.440 --> 0:08:36.960 got added to the World Cup or World Series circuit 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:40.440 in the twenty twenty season, twenty twenty one. 0:08:40.360 --> 0:08:42.439 Seasons, and then the Olympics in twenty twenty two. 0:08:42.720 --> 0:08:45.640 Yep, yep, but it they'd always been around as like 0:08:45.720 --> 0:08:48.040 development sleds, so people will learn how to drive in 0:08:48.120 --> 0:08:51.000 it and then you just go and get into two man. 0:08:51.040 --> 0:08:53.280 But I had never actually driven a monobob, So it's 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:55.720 funny when I started driving a monobob there were younger 0:08:55.760 --> 0:08:58.680 drivers who had way more experience in it than I had, 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:02.040 even though I'd been driving at that for twelve years already. 0:09:02.160 --> 0:09:04.959 Yeah, that's annoying. That's like when they introduced a new 0:09:05.000 --> 0:09:07.640 technology that young people immediately understand and I'm like, no, 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:11.600 I've already learned all the other technologies. This is bullshit. Okay, 0:09:11.640 --> 0:09:14.720 So you had long campaign for the for Women event, 0:09:15.160 --> 0:09:17.840 but the people in charge decided instead to add the 0:09:17.840 --> 0:09:20.920 monobob to the Olympics instead. So what was the rationale 0:09:20.960 --> 0:09:21.880 given for that decision. 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:25.080 So there's quite a few different reasons that were given. 0:09:25.320 --> 0:09:28.080 Whether or not they're all true, who knows. But one 0:09:28.080 --> 0:09:31.240 of it was because they thought having the monobob would 0:09:31.280 --> 0:09:34.840 allow more nations to get involved than more small nations. 0:09:35.000 --> 0:09:37.400 The problem with the monobob though, is you still need 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:39.840 two people because you still have the person driving it, 0:09:39.880 --> 0:09:42.240 but you still need people to move the equipment, to 0:09:42.280 --> 0:09:44.000 prepare the equipment, and all this kind of stuff. So 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:45.760 you still need a breakman, whether or not you have 0:09:45.840 --> 0:09:49.480 it or not. So it has allowed more nations to 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:52.120 get involved, but just not as the levels they thought 0:09:52.160 --> 0:09:54.360 it would. And also they just said, oh, four men 0:09:54.400 --> 0:09:56.360 would be too expensive and all this kind of stuff. 0:09:56.440 --> 0:09:59.080 But the problem is with monobob you also have to 0:09:59.080 --> 0:10:02.319 buy new sleds. Like nobody had all these competitive monolbobs 0:10:02.320 --> 0:10:05.400 sitting around, so people had to buy new sleds versus 0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:07.360 a foe man. There were plenty of four man sleds 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:09.480 sitting around. All you had to do was pick one up. 0:10:09.520 --> 0:10:12.679 And as TMOSA, we had tons and tons of sleds. 0:10:12.720 --> 0:10:15.000 But now we're buying monobob sleds every year, which is 0:10:15.000 --> 0:10:16.920 something we might have to do as a foreman. So 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:20.040 there's a little ins and out. But at the same time, 0:10:20.240 --> 0:10:22.680 like I was grateful to have an opportunity to even 0:10:22.760 --> 0:10:24.960 have two chances to medal, So it's like a double 0:10:25.040 --> 0:10:27.800 edged sword. I wanted it for women because I believe 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:30.520 it gave more opportunities for more women to win a medal. 0:10:31.000 --> 0:10:33.440 And I'm a team sport athlete coming from softball, like 0:10:33.480 --> 0:10:36.640 I wanted to have that team atmosphere versus the monobob. 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:39.080 It just really gives the drivers another opportunity to meddle, 0:10:39.080 --> 0:10:40.800 which you know, the brakemen just have to do all 0:10:40.840 --> 0:10:42.720 the work on a monobob day but getting none of 0:10:42.720 --> 0:10:45.000 the glory, which is seems kind of backwards to me. 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:47.880 Okay, I have some follow ups for us non bob 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:50.559 sled experts. First of all, men and women use the 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:52.560 same sled so when you say that there's four men 0:10:52.679 --> 0:10:55.079 sleds popping around everywhere, the women could have used the 0:10:55.120 --> 0:10:57.080 same ones that are used for those Yep. 0:10:57.160 --> 0:10:59.920 In twenty twenty two Olympics meet and a driver free 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:02.839 del Duca actually use exact same sled in those games. 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:05.400 So yeah, we use we used to say same sleds 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:05.920 all the time. 0:11:06.280 --> 0:11:08.280 A lot of pressure not to wreck someone's ride. 0:11:09.000 --> 0:11:12.480 We actually wrecked each other's sleds. So he wrecked mine, 0:11:12.559 --> 0:11:14.920 I got him back, borrowed his, and wrecked his. Uh 0:11:15.360 --> 0:11:20.120 not intentional. Nobody ever wants to crash course sometimes. 0:11:20.000 --> 0:11:22.760 Okay, second follow up. Then, so the mono bob they 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:25.920 they thought that it'd be easier for there to be 0:11:26.040 --> 0:11:29.719 this less expensive sled and for more people to participate 0:11:29.840 --> 0:11:34.080 because across the world there might be more single folks 0:11:34.400 --> 0:11:36.880 who wanted to do this as opposed to amassing a 0:11:36.920 --> 0:11:39.400 four person team paying for a four person sled. But 0:11:39.520 --> 0:11:42.480 ultimately the onus is then on that one athlete to 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:44.839 pay for things and to do things. Tell us more 0:11:44.840 --> 0:11:47.920 about the brakeman and why they are so involved even 0:11:47.920 --> 0:11:49.200 if they're not actually in the sled. 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:53.160 Yeah, so the monobob, it's the same exact runners which 0:11:53.160 --> 0:11:56.559 are blades as the two person sled. So before a 0:11:56.679 --> 0:11:58.600 race you have to prepare those You have to stand 0:11:58.600 --> 0:12:01.439 them down, make sure there is frictionless as possible, get 0:12:01.480 --> 0:12:05.080 out any scratches, and one runner alone could take an 0:12:05.080 --> 0:12:08.880 hour at least, so you're talking four runners in four 0:12:08.920 --> 0:12:11.520 hours of just on your feet preparing those runners. You 0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:13.360 have to move the sled back and forth, and so 0:12:13.400 --> 0:12:15.920 the brakemen are doing all that work on race days, 0:12:16.160 --> 0:12:18.439 even in a two man competition, like we don't move 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:21.320 our own sleds. The brakemen and the coaches and everything. 0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:24.000 All the staff do that for us. So if you 0:12:24.000 --> 0:12:26.240 could imagine then on race days and a mono bob, 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:28.840 all the brakemen, all from around the world are doing 0:12:28.840 --> 0:12:31.559 all the work, moving all the sleds. But like I said, 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:33.400 we come down and win a medal and they just 0:12:33.960 --> 0:12:36.200 cheer for us because they don't get one themselves, which 0:12:36.320 --> 0:12:39.680 is like I said, it's always felt backwards to me, and. 0:12:39.600 --> 0:12:41.640 That's a totally different skill set. It's not something that 0:12:41.679 --> 0:12:42.920 a driver would also learn. 0:12:43.559 --> 0:12:45.960 No drivers, we've learned all that, so we do it too, 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:48.960 but and especially me, I spent three years as a brakemen, 0:12:49.080 --> 0:12:51.000 so we do it too, but not to the same 0:12:51.040 --> 0:12:55.480 extent as the brakemen do. The brakemen are like the workhorses, 0:12:55.559 --> 0:12:58.120 literally the workhorses, because they're responsible for so much of 0:12:58.160 --> 0:13:01.360 the push at the beginning regards to monopop has caused 0:13:01.400 --> 0:13:03.560 drivers to get in better shape because we have to 0:13:03.559 --> 0:13:06.160 push the slide by ourselves. But in other regards, like 0:13:06.200 --> 0:13:08.800 it's just a lot of more work for breakmen who 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:10.200 don't get to participate in it. 0:13:11.040 --> 0:13:14.000 Yeah, I read about you recruiting a breakman by finding 0:13:14.040 --> 0:13:16.160 out that she could like deadlift a certain amount, and 0:13:16.200 --> 0:13:17.560 you were like, why don't you give it a shot? 0:13:18.000 --> 0:13:21.959 Come on over, I'll teach how okay, is getting a 0:13:22.000 --> 0:13:24.760 four women event in the Olympics program something you'd still 0:13:24.800 --> 0:13:26.560 like to see or that other Bob's letters are still 0:13:26.559 --> 0:13:27.040 pushing for. 0:13:27.559 --> 0:13:30.280 I would like to see it. However, I've had this 0:13:30.360 --> 0:13:32.960 conversation now with the younger pilots and said, hey, look, 0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:37.000 this is your game now, like I'm done after these games, 0:13:37.040 --> 0:13:39.480 Like I've had my time. I think four man is 0:13:39.520 --> 0:13:40.960 a way to go. By the end of the day, 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:43.200 If you guys decide you want to stick with monobob 0:13:43.240 --> 0:13:45.240 and that's what you want to see the future of 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:47.240 a sport look like, then I'm going to support you 0:13:47.240 --> 0:13:50.040 in any way possible, Like it's time for you guys 0:13:50.040 --> 0:13:52.679 to step up and take over this, and like, I'm 0:13:52.679 --> 0:13:54.480 going to do whatever I can to support you. But 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:56.800 you know, I might disagree with you, but at the 0:13:56.880 --> 0:13:58.160 end of the day, I'm not going to be the 0:13:58.160 --> 0:14:00.719 one controlling direction of the sports. You guys to take 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:02.280 the mantle and decide where you want to go. 0:14:02.880 --> 0:14:06.680 Yeah, that, Saint Marit's victory was your first win since 0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:09.160 the birth of your second child. Noah in November of 0:14:09.160 --> 0:14:12.560 twenty twenty two. What were you feeling. Was it relief 0:14:12.640 --> 0:14:14.480 that you made it back on top of the podium 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:17.280 or was it calm because you were certain you'd be back. 0:14:17.679 --> 0:14:21.400 It was relief relief because, like I said, this season 0:14:21.440 --> 0:14:25.760 had been so much struggle from that point and just 0:14:25.920 --> 0:14:28.240 there's been so many times where I've been close, Like 0:14:28.280 --> 0:14:30.480 in Aldenberg, Germany, our first race of the year, I 0:14:30.520 --> 0:14:32.760 came down and I was in the top three, I 0:14:32.800 --> 0:14:35.080 was in metal position and then came down and crashed, 0:14:35.120 --> 0:14:37.480 and like to start the season off of that and 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:39.840 then just to go in every week knowing I could 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:42.360 win and just not putting the piece together, it was 0:14:42.400 --> 0:14:44.280 just frustrating. So when I finally did it, it was just 0:14:44.680 --> 0:14:48.120 relief and it was like, Okay, now we're ready to 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:50.040 do something. Now we're ready to get back in the 0:14:50.040 --> 0:14:52.280 swing of things, and now we can move forward and 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:54.880 go into this the rest of the season and into 0:14:54.920 --> 0:14:57.640 the Olympic season knowing that we saw the potential to win. 0:14:57.680 --> 0:14:59.040 So it was really good feeling though. 0:14:59.560 --> 0:15:05.320 Yeah, So the first mono Bob Gold, first since Noah, 0:15:05.520 --> 0:15:08.840 first after turning forty and Saint Moritz is where your 0:15:08.880 --> 0:15:11.840 husband Nick proposed to you at the metal podium at 0:15:11.840 --> 0:15:14.280 the twenty thirteen World Championships after you won gold and 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:16.440 mixed team. So this is kind of a special place 0:15:16.440 --> 0:15:16.640 for you. 0:15:16.760 --> 0:15:19.640 Huh yeah, it's it's like one of my favorite tracks 0:15:19.640 --> 0:15:21.600 in the world, one of my favorite places in the world. 0:15:21.720 --> 0:15:24.320 Like I could easily spend the rest of my life 0:15:24.320 --> 0:15:26.920 in Saint Marit's move there and be happy and drive 0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:30.080 taxi bobs forever. I don't know if that will actually happen. 0:15:30.400 --> 0:15:32.160 My husband still got a job to do and stuff. 0:15:32.200 --> 0:15:35.280 Somebody's got to afford all this, so yep, so we'll see. 0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:37.440 But I just absolutely love it there, and if you 0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:39.240 have never gotten a chance to go and do it 0:15:39.560 --> 0:15:41.480 every time you go there, like last year, I had 0:15:41.480 --> 0:15:43.640 a different nanny than I do this year, I made 0:15:43.640 --> 0:15:46.520 sure they take Bob said rides down it, get past 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:48.920 your rides and all that kind of stuff. So it's 0:15:48.960 --> 0:15:50.800 just one of the coolest places in the world. And 0:15:50.800 --> 0:15:52.840 it's the birth of Bob said. So you know you 0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:55.320 can't help but like love it there. 0:15:56.400 --> 0:15:59.400 I've been to Switzerland, which I loved, but not Saint Maritz, 0:15:59.400 --> 0:16:01.120 so I got to add it to the list. I've 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:03.720 always wondered, And I've never spoken to someone who got 0:16:03.800 --> 0:16:07.200 that proposal like on top of another joyful event, end 0:16:07.240 --> 0:16:09.640 of a race, after a title game, all that stuff. 0:16:09.760 --> 0:16:11.480 So what were the emotions. Was it like, oh my 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:13.440 god that now I'm celebrating the race, or is it 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:14.720 like whoa, this is so cool? 0:16:15.120 --> 0:16:17.520 Well, initially I told him because I thought he was 0:16:17.560 --> 0:16:19.720 going to propose at Christmas, like you know, a normal 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:22.400 Christmas proposal. So I told him. I was like, absolutely, 0:16:22.480 --> 0:16:25.040 do not propose it world championships, Like, don't do it. 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:28.120 I want World Championships to be about worlds. I wanted 0:16:28.120 --> 0:16:30.400 my proposal to be about by proposal. But it ended 0:16:30.480 --> 0:16:32.360 up being really cool, and I'm glad you didn't listen 0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:34.360 to me, because it was just like to have that 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:37.000 moment and it'll be on the podium and get down 0:16:37.000 --> 0:16:39.320 on one knee and be freezing cold, and to have 0:16:39.440 --> 0:16:41.560 the memories and the video that will last last time, 0:16:41.640 --> 0:16:44.360 Like it's a really cool thing to look back on. 0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:48.160 And you know, we've got we've got a newspaper coverings 0:16:48.200 --> 0:16:50.600 of it in like Zech Republic covering and all over 0:16:50.640 --> 0:16:53.120 the world people covering it. So that's a memory that 0:16:53.160 --> 0:16:55.200 we'll have forever, and it's pretty cool to go back 0:16:55.240 --> 0:16:57.280 there now with my two sons, and he was able 0:16:57.280 --> 0:16:59.320 to join us for that weekend too with the mono. 0:16:59.360 --> 0:17:02.440 Bab wins to have the whole family there again and 0:17:02.760 --> 0:17:04.840 look back and be like, oh my gosh, that was 0:17:04.880 --> 0:17:07.720 twenty thirteen. That was been in this sport a long time, 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:09.120 twelve years ago. 0:17:09.240 --> 0:17:09.399 You know. 0:17:09.520 --> 0:17:12.240 To have that moment of humfortable circle is really cool. 0:17:13.040 --> 0:17:15.040 Quite a precedent to set for the marriage though, that 0:17:15.119 --> 0:17:18.200 you told him not to and he did it anyway. Yeah, yeah, 0:17:18.240 --> 0:17:20.760 you got to look out for that. We're going to 0:17:20.840 --> 0:17:22.679 take a quick break when we come back more with 0:17:22.720 --> 0:17:39.800 Alana Meyers Taylor. I've got an internet friend named Ken Childs. 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:42.399 He covers all things Bob's leed and skeleton and luge, 0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:44.800 so shout out his sight sliding on ice dot com. 0:17:44.800 --> 0:17:46.479 And I asked him what he'd want to ask you 0:17:46.560 --> 0:17:48.720 if he sat down with you, and he said, he's 0:17:48.720 --> 0:17:51.520 interested in how you mentally handled coming back from maternity 0:17:51.600 --> 0:17:53.960 leave and not being as strong as a starter when 0:17:53.960 --> 0:17:55.760 you first came back, Like, what was the work you 0:17:55.840 --> 0:17:58.400 did to be patient getting your push start back? 0:17:58.960 --> 0:18:01.359 Oh, I'm still not the most patient person. That's the 0:18:01.400 --> 0:18:04.440 hardest thing, and I'm still harder on myself, and actually 0:18:04.440 --> 0:18:07.120 coming back from Noah has been much harder than coming 0:18:07.119 --> 0:18:10.959 back from Nico, like both kids, unfortunately. I say unfortunately 0:18:10.960 --> 0:18:14.600 because I really had wanted to have a non sea 0:18:14.600 --> 0:18:16.600 section birth and I had sea sections both of them 0:18:16.640 --> 0:18:18.720 after laboring for two days with both of them, so. 0:18:18.960 --> 0:18:21.159 Oh, man, rest in both worlds. 0:18:21.280 --> 0:18:26.560