Vault: Elana Meyers won 2nd place in the Winter Olympics.

Summary

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The Bert Show – Episode: Vault: Elana Meyers won 2nd place in the Winter Olympics

Date: June 25, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode is a celebratory and behind-the-scenes look at Elana Meyers, a Douglasville, Georgia native, who made history by securing second place in the women's bobsled at the Winter Olympics. The Bert Show team shares Elana’s journey, the dramatic backstory behind her Olympic selection, her athletic transition from softball to bobsledding, and their personal excitement as they follow her progress. The episode also features listener participation, highlighting the pride of her local community and former classmates.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Elana Meyers’ Olympic Journey & Team Drama

• Backstory of Selection (01:13–02:33):

  • Elana, the only woman from Georgia at the Winter Olympics, has been updating the show from the Olympic Village.
  • She initially tried to be the "pusher" for the USA’s top bobsled pilot. Although she won the selection "push-off," the top pilot reportedly complained and requested a different teammate.
  • Despite being qualified, Elana ended up on the USA’s "sled number two," where she now sits in second place—well ahead of the other pilot, who is in eighth.

  Quote:

  • “She pushed off against another woman to compete to be in the number one sled and Alana won and this number one pilot didn't like the results... So she could have somebody else push. Even though Ilana really qualified.” — (C, 01:38–02:23)
  • “Well, the number one person is in like, I don't know, eighth place today and Alana is in second place. That's got to feel good.” — (C, 02:32)

2. Overcoming Adversity: Injury and Teamwork

• Pilot’s Injury (02:47–03:10):

  • The pilot of Elana’s bobsled (Erin Pack) struggled with a painful hamstring injury, causing concerns about whether she’d even compete.
  • Despite this, they performed excellently to secure second place.

  Quote:

  • “Your pilot was injured and you're still in second place.” — (E, 02:47)

3. Breakdown of Olympic Runs

• Analysis of the Race (03:30–05:33):

  • The hosts play and discuss the commentary from Elana’s race heats.
  • Heat 1: Strong start, good navigation—moving into second place.
  • Heat 2: Technical improvement puts them at the top of the leaderboard temporarily.
  • The conversation highlights both the thrill and technical challenge of bobsledding.

  Quotes:

  • “Elaina Myers is her brakeman. She was a shortstop and pitcher at George Washington University... She said bob sled it is.” — (F, 03:30–03:54)
  • “She moves into second place.” — (F, 04:26)
  • “Pass moves to the top of the podium.” — (F, 05:30)

  Memorable Reactions:

  • “89 miles per hour though.” — (G, 04:44)
  • “That looks like fun.” — (C, 04:46)

4. Gamesmanship and Olympic Coverage

• Scheduling & Spoilers (05:39–06:24):
  • The hosts discuss the challenge of learning Olympic results in real-time versus TV coverage, commending NBC for withholding spoilers.

5. Community Pride and Listener Participation

• Classmate Calls In (06:27–08:24):

  • A listener from Elana’s high school (Lithia Springs) shares memories of her drive and athleticism, expressing excitement and hometown pride.
  • The community only learned of her Olympic participation through the Bert Show and social media.
  • Discussion around Elana’s background: her father played for the Atlanta Falcons, and she was a standout softball player who switched to bobsledding only after softball was dropped from the Olympics.

  Quotes:

  • “She always talked about doing something big in sport. That's what she always wanted to do.” — (G, 07:51)
  • “She’s gonna wear her medal if she gets in the door.” — (E, 07:31)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:01–02:33: Elana’s selection story and Olympic team dynamics
• 02:47–03:10: Overcoming injury to reach second place
• 03:30–05:33: Live reactions and analysis of Elana and Erin Pack’s runs
• 05:39–06:24: NBC’s scheduling and Olympic spoiler policy
• 06:27–08:24: Listener calls in, shares Elana’s high school background and local pride

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “She pushed off against another woman to compete to be in the number one sled and Alana won and this number one pilot didn't like the results...” — C, 01:38
• “Well, the number one person is in like, I don't know, eighth place today and Alana is in second place. That's got to feel good.” — C, 02:32
• “Your pilot was injured and you're still in second place.” — E, 02:47
• “Elaina Myers is her brakeman. She was a shortstop and pitcher at George Washington University... She said bob sled it is.” — F, 03:30
• “She always talked about doing something big in sport. That's what she always wanted to do.” — G, 07:51

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Episode Tone and Takeaways

The episode is lively, upbeat, and infused with pride—both from the show hosts and from the Georgia community. They emphasize the drama and determination in Elana Meyers’ story: her athleticism, resilience, and the satisfaction of exceeding expectations amid challenges. The Bert Show frames her journey as not only a sporting triumph but also a feel-good story of local dreams coming true on the world stage.

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Transcript

[A]

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[B]

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[C]

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[B]

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[C]

I've got ideas.

[B]

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[C]

Birdshow so for a couple of weeks now we've had Ilana Myers on with us and she is from Douglasville. She is the only woman from the state of Georgia that is competing in the Winter Olympics. She's in the bobsled, right?

[D]

Very cool.

[C]

And she's been really cool about calling us and just telling us what's been going on in the Olympic Village. But when we first talked to her, she was weeks away from her competition. So she's been waiting and waiting and waiting. Right. Well, I found out a little backstory about her yesterday which makes this even more interesting. The there's one premier pilot that is like the best in the US And I don't know what exactly how to pronounce her last name is, something like Ro Hawk or something like that. And there are two women obviously in the two woman bobsledding team and Ilana tried to be the pusher for this number one pilot, right? So she pushed off against she had a push off against another woman to compete to be in the number one sled and Alana won and this number one pilot didn't like the results. So she complained and complained and complained to the coaches so she could have somebody else push. Even though Ilana really qualified to be in this number one bobsled, that would

[E]

fire me up totally, right?

[F]

Patty? B word.

[C]

I guess there's a lot of politics that go on, but she won this push off against this girl and the number one said I still don't Want Alana on my team. Give me the other girl.

[A]

Wow.

[C]

Well, the number one person is in like, I don't know, eighth place today and Alana is in second place. That's got to feel good. That's got to feel great. Right? And publicly she's not going to be able to talk about that too much because they're still on the same US team and their teammates and even, you

[E]

know, we talked yesterday too. Added to that is her own pilot. Alana's pilot of her bobsled was having hamstring problems. Was it last night or the night before? To the point she was in tears. Not sure if she that hamstring was going to, you know, be able to get the pain away before this competition. Last night or yesterday afternoon is when it actually happened. And so to be in second place not only after the story Bert just told, but your pilot was injured and you're still in second place.

[C]

And if you watched any of the bobsled last night, the pusher really has about five seconds of work and then is along for the ride. They duck down into the bobsled and then it's the person in the front that's doing a whole bunch of the navigating.

[E]

Right.

[C]

So she must have done a great job last night, a really fantastic job because here was her run last night at the Olympics.

[F]

Aaron Pack at the top, 29 years of age from Farmington, Connecticut. Elaina Myers is her brakeman. She was a shortstop and pitcher at George Washington University. Thought she'd make the Olympics someday as a softball player. But once softball was taken out of the games, Myers, the brakeman said said bob sled it is. And here she is in her first Olympic games.

[D]

Erin is not a consistent driver. She gets a lot of her results from awesome start times. Every once in a while she feels a great drive down the track. If she does it here, it will give her tremendous confidence cuz she did not have a great week of training.

[C]

Okay, that's the first part of the run.

[D]

Accelerating away to 12. Watch out to 50, 50. This got thrilling late in the 50, 50, 44. She's going to drop back a little bit. Should be top three easy.

[F]

89 and a half miles per hour. She moves into second place.

[D]

That's the heat Aaron Pack needed for her confidence.

[F]

Great run by Aaron Pack of USA Sled number two.

[C]

And you know, wow. Alana was in there also but they

[E]

don't mention her name.

[G]

89 miles per hour though.

[B]

Did you hear that?

[C]

That looks like fun.

[E]

Awesome.

[C]

I'm scared of roller coasters. But this bobsledding thing sure looks like

[E]

fun because if you're on ice, it's fun.

[C]

So that was the run and then they had a second one last night.

[F]

Also, USA sled number two, piloted by Aaron Pack with Alana Myers as the push athlete. A surprisingly very good heat number one.

[D]

Well, she was good all the way down to curve 13. She lost it. She went from the leader to second place. Her nemesis was the 50. 50. This is a nice line. 1112, much smoother speed. 146, she'll be the leader.

[F]

82 miles per hour.

[D]

She's got it. 146, 51 miles per hour and pass

[F]

moves to the top of the podium.

[C]

So they're in second place this morning.

[D]

Awesome.

[C]

Isn't that awesome?

[E]

So they compete again today.

[G]

Right.

[C]

There's two more runs today and if they do as well, they'll be meddling.

[D]

That's so cool.

[E]

Amazing. Do we know what time?

[C]

I don't check the schedule the way it's set up. And I was so excited about this yesterday. I went on NBC Olympics just to see the results before they were on tv. They don't show you the results on the website, so they don't want to let you know. But what I understand understand is they're going to show it tonight at 8:00 clock on NBC.

[E]

And that's smart because I think in past Olympics, especially the Sydney Games, the Summer Games, where we were so far behind in seeing the events and they would show the results on the website and in the news. I've noticed this, this time that they haven't really ruined any sports for anybody because I was looking last night the same thing to try to get her results. I could not find them. So. Yeah.

[C]

Good morning, Fred. You're on Q100.

[G]

Hey, y' all doing Burt show.

[A]

Good.

[G]

How are you doing? Great. I didn't find out about it until a couple of days ago, but I didn't know Alana Myers was actually on the Olympic squad. And the reason why I was calling in is because me and her actually went to high school together.

[E]

Okay.

[G]

At Lithia Springs High School in Douglasville and Lithia Springs, actually. Mm. And I was talking to a friend of mine the other day. She's like, yeah, you know a lot of Myers on the Olympics. I was like, no, I didn't. She's been wanting to do that ever since we were in high school. And she told me about it and I watched the run last night and she's actually doing better than I Thought going from softball to bobsledding, that's a big transition.

[C]

You have to be so athletic. I mean, think about how great an athlete. I think her dad played for the Falcons or was on like, yeah, he played for the Falcons. She's such a good athlete that she played softball her whole life but couldn't make the squad in softball. So she's like, you know what? I'll just take up this bobsledding thing. And two years later, she may be getting a medal in the Olympics.

[G]

And that's phenomenal, because I can't wait until we have our high school reunion in a couple of years. And she actually does. Look what I did. What y' all do.

[E]

She's gonna wear her metal if she gets in the door.

[C]

I got a couple of emails from people that live in Douglasville and said they had no idea she was competing until we were talking to her the last couple of days.

[G]

Exactly. And pretty much everybody that I know of that we all went to high school with, we all stay in contact. You know, Facebook, MySpace, stuff like that. And a friend of mine and hers actually text me. She's like, hey, I'm having my birthday party. And I was like, what is this I hear? And that's when I found out that, yeah, yeah, she's actually on it, other than hearing her on the radio. And I'm like, that is crazy, because she always could. She always talked about doing something big in sport. That's what she always wanted to do. I want to be really, really good at this, this, this, and this. And here she is in bobsledding in the Olympics.

[C]

Yeah, she's got it. So we'll see what happens tonight. And she's been real good about calling in. So my bet is if she wins or she medals tonight, she'll be up all night. So I don't think it's gonna be too tough to get her on tomorrow morning.

[G]

Right.

[D]

The Birch Show.