Elana Meyers Taylor is now the most decorated Black athlete in Winter Games history

Updated February 20, 2022 at 4:45 PM ET

Elana Meyers Taylor ended the 2022 Winter Games making history on two fronts: Members of Team USA elected her as their flag bearer for Sunday's closing ceremony, making her the first athlete selected as the U.S. flag bearer for both the Winter Olympics' opening and closing ceremonies since 1948. She then carried the flag as the most decorated Black athlete in Winter Olympics history.

Meyers Taylor had been poised to carry the flag for the Feb. 4 opening ceremony, but a teammate took her place because the bobsledder tested positive for COVID-19.

"I was so honored to be named the Opening Ceremony flag bearer, but after not being able to carry the flag, it's even more humbling to lead the United States at the Closing Ceremony," Meyers Taylor said.

"Congratulations to my fellow Team USA athletes on all their success in Beijing – I'm looking forward to carrying the flag with my teammates by my side and closing out these Games."

The traditional closing ceremony was held in Beijing on Sunday after 16 days of Olympic competition and 109 events.

Meyers Taylor won a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics, in the inaugural women's monobob (one-person sled) event. At 37, the achievement made her the oldest U.S. woman to win a medal at the Winter Olympics. She followed up on that achievement Saturday by winning bronze in the two-woman event. It was the fifth medal of her Olympic career — the most for a Black athlete in the history of the Winter Games.

"That is overwhelming," Meyers Taylor said after the victory. "It's so crazy to hear that stat and know that I'm part of a legacy that's bigger than me."

Coming to China for her fourth Winter Olympics, Meyers Taylor had won two silver medals and one bronze earlier in her Olympic career, which began with the Vancouver Games of 2010.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.