Elana Meyers won a silver medal Wednesday at the Sochi Winter Olympics, piloting USA-1 to a second-place finish in women's bobsled.
Ms. Meyers, B.S. ’06, M.T.A. ’11, and brakeman Lauryn Williams took the lead during the first heat Tuesday before the Canadian team of Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse engineered a late charge to win their second straight gold by 0.10 seconds. Ms. Meyers and Ms. Williams had the fastest single run of any team in the field, a 57.23-second performance in the first heat, giving them an advantage they carried into Wednesday's final runs.
The United States team of Jamie Greubel and Aja Evans finished third.
Ms. Meyers graduated from GW’s School of Business in 2011 with a master’s degree in sports management, after she completed a B.S. in exercise science at the School of Public Health and Health Services in 2006. The former GW softball player won a bronze medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver when she competed as a brakeman, becoming the first GW athletics graduate to capture an Olympic medal. Now she has a silver to add to her collection.
"Elana exemplifies the dedication, passion and attitude that we want all of our student-athletes to train and compete with every day," said GW Director of Athletics and Recreation Patrick Nero. "Her commitment to mind and body enabled her to make the transition from elite college softball player to one of the best bobsled pilots in the world, and we couldn't be more proud of how Elana represents GW on the global stage."
Ms. Meyers is the GW women’s softball program’s all-time leader in hits, batting average, on-base percentage, runs and games played. She was a two-time Atlantic 10 Student-Athlete of the Year for softball and is a former CoSIDA Academic All-American. Earlier this month she was inducted into the GW Athletic Hall of Fame.
NBC will re-broadcast the final runs tonight from 8-11:30 p.m.
For more coverage of Elana Meyers, visit the GW Sports website.