Monobob moms

Minutes earlier, Germany’s Lisa Buckwitz set the course record in 59.11. Then came American Kaillie Humphries, who bolted down the hairpin turns on the glassy sheet of ice in 59.08. A tough time to beat? It proved to be as Meyers Taylor didn’t do it — though she matched it, sharing the course record with an identical time of 59.08 as her teammate.

Synchronized monobob, indeed!

For those of you new to monobob, it is a newer iteration of one of the classic disciplines in the Winter Olympics. While the more familiar two-man bobsledding starts Monday at the Milan Cortina Games, and yet to come is the four-man bobsledding — familiar to all the John Candy fans in the house; say it with me, mon: “Feel the rhythm! Feel the rhyme! Get on up! It’s bobsled time!” — monobob is a one-man discipline that was introduced at the 2022 Beijing Games.

It figured to be a night to remember with Public Enemy legend Flavor Flav in the house Monday at the Cortina Sliding Centre. (As with Snoop Dogg, I have also been in a room with Flavor Flav, though not nearly as close. I was lucky enough to catch him with Public Enemy in 1988 at the Oakland Arena when the rock and Roll Hall of Fame group was still an opener, on the bill, along with EPMD and, get this, Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, to open for Run DMC.)

Meyers Taylor and Humphries sure delivered, capturing gold and bronze, respectively.

Is monobob as glamorous as the women’s hockey team playing against Canada for gold Thursday? Undoubtedly, no. But, for me, it’s these lower profile events that make the Olympics the Olympics.

After the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, I was critical of Steph Curry and the USA men’s basketball team because of the level of refined professional bravado they brought to the court. I feel the same way about men’s hockey at the Winter Games, since they opened it up to NHL players in Nagano in 1998.

For me, the best thing about tuning into the Olympics is stumbling onto a sport you know nothing about, watching athletes you’ve never heard of, and five minutes in your are in it to win it with a sudden familiarity of the given discipline, while feeling like you’ve known the competitors forever because of some thorough, albeit brief, on-air bio.

This was my experience with witnessing Meyers Taylor claim gold Monday. The 41-year-old Oceanside native and mother of two is an Olympic veteran, competing first in 2010 in the Vancouver Games, with five previous medals — two silvers and two bronzes in two-man bob, and a silver in monobob in 2022. None of these I remember.

I will forever remember Meyers Taylor’s gold medal triumph though, and the site of she and Humphries, who is 40 and a new mother of one, celebrating together.