Two-time Olympic medalist Elana Meyers Taylor is halfway to becoming the first U.S. female bobsled driver to win a World Championship.
Meyers Taylor, fresh off winning her first World Cup season title, led German Anja Schneiderheinze by .39 of a second after two of four runs in Winterberg, Germany, on Thursday. Meyers Taylor and push athlete Cherrelle Garrett posted the fastest time in both runs.
The final two runs are Saturday at 7:30 a.m. and 9:05 a.m. ET on FIBT’s YouTube channel.
Meyers Taylor, 30, captured Olympic bronze as a push athlete in 2010, then transitioned to driving. She took bronze at the 2012 World Championships, silver in 2013 and silver at the Sochi Olympics.
Canadian Kaillie Humphries took gold in all of those competitions, but she was eighth after two runs Friday.
She had flu-like symptoms this week and missed at least one day of training, according to longtime bobsled analyst John Morgan.
Meyers Taylor beat Humphries for the World Cup season title. Both drove four-man bobsleds this season, breaking the gender barrier.
At Worlds, Meyers Taylor could also become the first U.S. driver -- male or female -- to win an Olympic or World Championship gold medal on a non-North American track since 1959.
The other U.S. sleds, driven by Olympians Jazmine Fenlator and Jamie Greubel Poser, were in sixth and seventh after two runs.
All three push athletes from the Sochi Olympics -- Lauryn Williams, Aja Evans and Lolo Jones -- are not currently bobsledding.
The bobsled World Championships continue with the first two of four two-man runs on Friday at 7:05 a.m. and 9:05 a.m. ET on FIBT’s YouTube channel.
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Here is look at the standings after day one: #bobsled #TeamUSA #America #women #WorldChampionship #America pic.twitter.com/vIWdP6wFIT
— USA Bobsled Skeleton (@USABS) February 26, 2015