WHISTLER, British Columbia —
The U.S. bobsled team of Erin Pac and Elana Meyers won a bronze medal Feb. 24,
the first medal for the United States in any of the sliding sports in this year’s
Olympics.
Photo by David G. McIntyre/Genesis Photos Americans Erin Pac, right,and Elana Meyers celebrate after winning the bronze medal in women’s bobsledding at the Whistler Sliding Center during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver on Feb. 24. |
“It’s all divine,” said Meyers, the brakeman. “It’s all God-driven. That’s
something the both of us share is our strong faith. It took a lot of constant
prayer. … Three years is a long time … and we’ve been through a lot of
stuff and God has brought us through that and it’s been amazing and He’s been
amazing.”
Pac, the team’s driver, and Meyers were in second place after three runs, but
the Canadian team of Helen Upperton and Shelley-Ann Brown turned in a fast time
of 53.17 seconds in their final run to move ahead of Pac and Meyers, whose
final run was their slowest of the competition.
The U.S. team finished 1.12
seconds behind the gold medal Canadian team of Kaillie Humphries and Heather
Moyse and .27 seconds behind Upperton and Brown.
“Any medal is never disappointing,” Pac said. “Me and Elana worked really hard
on just focusing on the four runs, and coming into there I knew that we could
medal. Didn’t know which one, but I’ll take a bronze any day.”
The road to the Olympics wasn’t always a smooth one for Pac and Meyers, who had
to work on repairing a fractured relationship brought about by some of the
stresses of competition. The two didn’t speak for a long time.
But they said God brought healing and forgiveness, and as they crossed the
finish line in their final run, Pac leaned back in her bobsled and
affectionately grabbed both sides of Meyers’ face, as the two celebrated their
medal-winning performance.
“I fully believe that God was with us every step of the way and He brought us
together as a team and He helped us get down this hill,” Pac said.
(EDITOR’S NOTE — Ellsworth, director of news and media relations at Union
University in Jackson, Tenn., is covering the 2010 Olympics for Baptist Press.)