CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Elana Meyers Taylor’s sons are too young to understand that their mother is an Olympic champion. Kylie Armbruster Humphries’ son just wanted to play in the snow around the medal podium where his mother was standing.
But any woman who has ever tried to balance motherhood with a career, who has given her all and still felt like it’s not enough, knows this. And Myers-Taylor and Armbruster-Humphries hope you can see a little bit of yourself in the two women on the Olympic podium.
“I want you to know that just because you become a mother, you don’t have to stop living your dreams,” Meyers-Taylor said. She won the monobob on Monday, Feb. 16, finishing ahead of Germany’s Laura Nolte and Armbruster Humphries, finally winning the Olympic gold medal she has sought for years.
Standards for women are impossible. When you add family into the mix in any way, it becomes exponentially more difficult. In a society where women consider climbing a hill before being eligible to run for president, add in age and it might be the equivalent of climbing the mountain where the Milan-Cortina bobsled track is located.
Myers Taylor and Armbruster Humphries felt it. I’ve felt it all.
Two nights ago, Armbruster-Humphries was away for the first time since her son was born, and it broke her heart. She knew she needed rest. After all, she is participating in the Olympics. Still, you can’t rest with a toddler who is still awake during the night.
Still, it didn’t get any easier.
“My husband is here, my parents are here, my in-laws are here, so I knew he was in really good hands,” Armbruster Humphries said. “So for me, it’s probably more about compartmentalizing than anything else. Mom guilt is a thing, and it was there, but I realized that I needed to do that in order to do my best.”
Myers Taylor and Armbruster Humphries are the first to admit that they are not doing it alone. Both have supportive husbands, and as former bobsledders, they understand how difficult it is. They have supportive families.
The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee provides financial and other resources to athletes who are mothers, something many women can’t say.
But no one can silence the voices in your head that every working mother has. No one else can weigh competing options and decide what sacrifices are acceptable. No one else can tell them it’s okay for their priorities to change or give them permission to prioritize themselves.
“This medal is also for all the mothers who didn’t necessarily get to achieve their dreams, but whose children are now their dreams,” Myers-Taylor said. “Because those people kept me grounded. Those people kept me going. And those people reached out to me when things got tough and encouraged me to keep going.”
And as they stood atop the medal podium, Myers-Taylor and Armbruster-Humphries, watching over their young sons, they hoped to provide similar encouragement to other mothers.
It doesn’t matter if they’re chasing an Olympic medal or just trying to get through the day. These two badass women understand and empathize with their hardships because they too have faced them.
“I hope this work inspires others to go out and chase their dreams, whatever they may be,” Armbruster Humphries said. “I grew up around sports, but when you have kids and you turn 40, everything goes downhill. And Elana and I are going to prove that’s not true.
“It may look different than it did when I was 20 years old, but it doesn’t mean I can’t stand on top of the podium. It doesn’t mean I can’t get on the podium and achieve my dreams.”
This juggling act is not easy. But for everyone who does, the Olympic medals that hung around the necks of Myers Taylor and Armbruster Humphries are yours, too.
Follow USA TODAY sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.
