Elana Meyers Taylor jumped from her sled in celebration, held up the American flag and shared the news with her two deaf sons through sign language.

The 41-year-old bobsledder captured...

r first Olympic gold medal Feb. 16 in the women’s monobob at the Milan Cortina Games, CBS Sports reported. Competing in her fifth Winter Olympics, Meyers Taylor sat behind Germany’s Laura Nolte through three runs before executing a brilliant final heat to beat her competitor by 0.04 seconds.

“It actually happened. It’s going to take a while for this to sink in,” Meyers Taylor told CBS Sports. “I still can’t believe it. I can’t even put into words what this means, I’m just so excited.” (RELATED: Team USA Bobsledder Kris Horn Takes Horrifying Ride By Himself After Teammates Completely Crashout)

The victory placed her alongside speedskating legend Bonnie Blair as the most decorated American woman in Winter Olympics history, according to Fox News. Both athletes now hold six career medals. Meyers Taylor entered the competition with three silvers and two bronzes from previous Games but had never claimed the top spot.

Her path to gold required a dramatic comeback, Sports Illustrated (SI) reported. Nolte held a .15-second advantage heading into the final run. Meyers Taylor answered with a dominant performance, then watched as the German surrendered her lead.

Meyers Taylor’s sons Nico, 5, and Noah, 3, frequently accompany their mother on the global competition circuit, according to SI. Nico has Down syndrome and both boys are deaf.

Teammate Kaillie Humphries, who claimed bronze at 40 years old, rejected critics who doubted both athletes could still compete.

“You get a lot of people that like to write you off as soon as you reach 40,” Humphries told CBS Sports. “‘It’s all downhill from there,’ is what you hear. I think Elana and I are both proof that that’s not true.”

Meyers Taylor highlighted what awaits after the celebration ends. “Because at the end of the day, in six days I got school pickups and drop-offs in the middle of Texas,” she told SI. “My boys are my motivation for this. My boys are the reason I kept going, and so it means nothing because I’m still just mom to them.”